Puella Arcana Somniator Madoka
by JudgmentTH
Summary: For the life of a girl went with a contract of different terms, and so her potential lost in the depths was found...
1. Prologue - Reincarnation

**Hm, well... I don't really know. This thought popped up from out of the blue, and so I said, "Why the hell not?"**

**This part's mainly Madoka entering the Velvet Room, as well as a secret at the end. Not much to discuss and stuff. Anyways...**

**Awaken Your Potential! Start!**

* * *

Ah... Fate.

The being that decides futures... or so they say.

Well, Fate isn't really that simple. She just does what she does; allow people to bathe in joy, or have their ends come soon. She decides who's to be happy, and who's to be left behind. She was a sharp, double-edged sword that chose the destinies whenever she so desired. That's what most people would say, anyway.

Of course, there are some that hated her. Mostly for the fact that misfortunes and bad endings exist, and that she would pick those most of the time, torturing the wanderers as they walked in their paths. A natural, unpredictable being that punched people, doused them with filthy water, and used colorful crayons to draw markings on their faces just for kicks.

One of them was a girl who had to deal with the hardships of living on her own at an early age.

One of them was a girl who was afraid to die, and tapped onto forbidden power just to cling onto her life.

One of them was a girl... actually, the blue-haired one was just fine at the beginning. Kind of.

One of them was a girl who also had to live differently after a misplaced accident.

And one of them was a girl that despised Fate by an enormous distance for some odd reason.

And yet, the decider of all roads was not aware of the grand schemes that was about to be brought down to everyone. She was not Fate, but she was given to do what she pleased without knowing of her planned events. She would soon be granted strange power that was not by beyond the cosmos; rather, it was a power that first starts with only a void, only to become limitless strength to aid her in her Journey.

The girl who was the center of Fate's thoughts... would soon hold the power of The Fool.

Because it all started with a simple call to The Universe...

* * *

"Mmm..."

She opened up her weary eyes... well, she did. With how she woke up rather abruptly, everything she saw was still a blur. She tried to wake up her small muscles, tired from the peaceful slumber she was in. As she sat more straight on her soft, comfy seat, and her eyes started to become cle...

...Wait. She was sitting?

"...?"

The eyes of the girl pushed on to try to get a better image. Was this strange? Definitely so. Her eyes started to make out with the color of velvet blue, all around her was a deep and soothing blue. A few seconds more, and an object that was in front of her finally started to take shape. She counted... yes, it was only one figure at her front before she could see well...

"Ohoho, a new visitor has entered our world!"

A man's voice. One that sounded so calm and intrigued about... the visitor... was he talking about her?

Her eyes soon dropped the blurry image in front of her. She was definitely in a blue room. This unknown place held the appearance of... what kind of looked like the inside of an airplane. She was in a passenger area, sitting on one side that was parallel to the other person, probably the same man who spoke earlier, in front of her. Their seats were between two corridors of the room, and his seat was behind a wall that was in between the entrances and exits of the room. Standing in the middle of their seats was a large square table, also in blue like the rest of the scene.

...The scenery was no doubt something to cast one's eyes on for a prolonged period of time. The eerie background music that played in this room was no more, no less, than a beautiful aria of the soul.

The man on the other end of the table looked... bizarre, if that was the best way to describe it. He had quite a strangely-long nose that stuck out, and his eyes, big and bulging, were bloodshot. Despite his troubling face, he was in a dashing black suit with a pair of gloves. He was looking at the girl, smiling with fascination, a bit creepy as he was.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," the bizarre man greeted. Even with a weird face he had, his voice was unusually composed. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter..."

"The... Velvet Room?" The girl whispered. She wasn't really sure what to feel now that she found herself in... a place like this... Why was she here?

"Usually, this is a room that only those who are bound by a 'contract' may enter," the man explained, still smiling through their conversation.

A room for people who are bound by a contract? What did that mean?

"My name is Igor," he continued to speak. "I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The man who sat beyond the table, Igor, then faced to the left and pointed to the other figure in this room. "This is Margaret. She is a resident here, like myself."

The girl then turned to the next person who sat on a passenger seat, who was eying her since her entrance to this room. She was... well, she was rich in beauty. Magnificent pale skin, golden rings placed on her fantastic blue dress, black leggings accompanied by blue high heels, a wave of light blond hair kept in touch by a headband...

The strong sense of fashion just made the girl jealous. A little, she thinks.

"My name is Margaret," the woman greeted. Even her voice was great. "I am here to accompany people on their journey."

Turning to his right for more introductions, Igor then said, "And these are Luna and Rai, residents of the Velvet Room as well."

Was that why she felt there were more people staring at her? She turned to the other end of the room to find a duo, both a boy and a girl, with their own large seats and a table. The boy was donning a simple azure tuxedo, blue shoes and jeans, and a small top hat. The girl wore a sleek, blue dress with white traces circling around her waist, boot-like slippers, and a pointed hat with the tip bent. They both shared the same hair and eye color: black and blue, respectively.

The first one to speak was the girl, who introduced herself with a smile. "I am Luna. At the moment, I am studying the ideas of being an assistant in the Velvet Room. For now, we also have to deal with our encounters to get stronger. A pleasure to meet you."

"And I am Rai," the boy spoke, also delighted. "Like Luna, I am training to be an assistant of Igor. I, too, have battles I must participate in to gain power. Nice to meet you."

...Battles? What kind of battles was he talking about?

Before the female visitor decided on introducing herself as well, just for courtesy, it soon seemed as if the world heard her mind.

"Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?" Igor politely asked.

...It was... off. The whole world she was brought into. Does she remember doing anything that made her enter this place? It certainly doesn't seem to be that way. It was an airplane, right? It was no doubt flying over the world, so she couldn't have gone in normally. But maybe the man Igor was probably true in saying that this place existed between dream and reality...

She had to be asleep somehow. This was like a dream, and yet it was not.

"Ah..."

Oh, did she almost forget that everyone wanted to know her name?

"I-I'm... Kaname Madoka..." she said, still shaken from the appearance of the Velvet Room.

Once her name was cast onto the room, Igor merely chuckled. "Hm... I see," he only spoke.

...Was that it?

"Um," Madoka wondered, wanting to know her position, "...Igor-san, why am I here?"

"Why, that is a good question," the man admitted in astonishment. "You see, those who visit this place have destinies, tales that they must make up as they go in their lives. However, only those that have met a requirement can access the Velvet Room."

"And... did I do something to come here?" Madoka asked, tilting her head. What did she do to enter this... Velvet Room with ease?

"Hmhmhm... let's find out."

In response to her question, Igor lifted his arms up and curved forth as a concentrated sphere of brilliant light shone forth on the table. The light that was emitted was bright, too bright that Madoka lifted an arm to her eyes to balance her sight. She felt something from her being pulled out softly. Whatever it was, she hoped nothing was going wrong.

Once the concentrated light dimmed down, Madoka lowered her arm to see a strange item, a key that floated in front of her.

"Ah, very intriguing. Not only do you have the Velvet Key that allows the holder to be the guest of the Velvet Room, you even met our master Philemon once."

Velvet Key? Philemon?

Igor simply let the key hold itself on the air. No doubt that he was craving for knowledge of its origin.

"But do tell me," he said, still keeping that smirk he usually has. "When and where did you possess this key?"

The Velvet Key... she pondered silently on where she got this key. How did this key appear in her hands? The girl couldn't recall any memory that showed her the time she was bestowed this key. When did this happen during her life?

"I... don't know," she answered in honesty. "I'm sorry."

Margaret had continued to watch the visitor, but much more closely after hearing her answer. The other two looked at Madoka as well, but only in confusion. Despite the 'answer' she gave, they had to agree that she couldn't be lying about the key.

"Is that so?" Igor continued to grin. "I believe in your honesty. Still, it is becoming a curious thought. This key had to be given to someone else, whose fortune led the guest to a journey he or she had to take."

"A... journey?"

"Perhaps you will have to venture in your own journey as well. Even now, I can tell that your heart has the potential."

What kind of potential was he talking about? Was there something she had?

"Well then," Igor said as key was returned to the visitor, "let's take a look at your future, shall we?"

His left hand then levitated on the table, forming another concentrated ball of light, but not as extreme as the previous one. The light formed into a... stack of blue cards. The top card showed the cover to be two sides of a face.

"Do you believe in fortune telling?" The old man asked.

That's what he meant about the future. Madoka was more or less in magical fantasies and such, even loving those magical girl shows, but actual fortune telling?

"Well, a little," she muttered.

"That is fine," Igor assured. Even if it wasn't believed on, he'd still keep a smile somehow. Another flick with his hand, and the cards that sat on the table soon spread about, seven to be exact. "The Arcana cards always tell a different fortune, for they perceive parts of the future to be assembled in many different possibilities."

Starting his special act, his hand wavered over one card out of the group, and magically flipped it over without ever laying a finger. The card that was flipped was revealed to be a tower. Well a tower that was broken by what appeared to be lightning, with two figures that fell down from the structure.

"Ah, the Tower in the upright position," Igor read. "It seems you will encounter something unfortunate upon the immediate future."

The revelation struck Madoka with worry. An unfortunate moment in the future?

"What does that mean?" She asked. Anything unfortunate is the worst possibility. Something like that will happen to her later on?

"Well, let's find the relationship with the Tower, shall we?" Igor continued. He probably only answered half of her question like that, mysterious as the entire show was. "The card that is related to the Tower would be..."

And so his hand wavered over another card, and flipped it, revealing two eyes watching a sprout of fire that was held by hands.

"...the Magician, in the upright position."

Madoka blinked and stared at the two cards out of seven, nervously wondering what kind of misfortune did it mean.

"And so it is answered," Igor explained, finally going over the event. "It seems that the cause of the misfortune will be because of someone initiative, and will want to take control of people around you for its desires."

"It... it can't be..." the visitor mumbled as she started to tremble. Understandably, she took it as if her (previously) normal life was now threatened. "Wh-what should I do?"

"Calm down," Margaret spoke up, her assurance giving Madoka the strength to compose herself. "You may be part of the tools your oppressor will want. However, you can still avoid the false directions, provided you know what the oppressor's tactics are."

"I... see..."

...Why? Why was she being told about all of this?

"You have quite an interesting journey ahead of you," Igor beamed as he brought the cards together to disappear. "Perhaps you will require our services if you must leap over the obstacles."

"Your services?" She repeated, tilting her head on the way he said it. "What services are you talking about?"

"Not only do you have the potential locked inside you, you also managed to attain a Velvet Key, something that those can't see normally. I believe there is more to you than meets the eye."

With a flash of power came a written paper, a contract of sorts, and a feather pen, floating from the wind that used to be nothingness. It seemed that magic was everywhere in here, actual magic that doesn't hide any movement.

It was kind of fun to watch.

"Sign here," Igor ordered as the paper was set flat while the feather made its way to Madoka, "and you will allow us to assist you, as well as keep your memory with us."

...It was crazy, really. She had only led a normal life for herself, and enjoyed her times with everyone else. Now, though, she was not only curious about this potential that Igor was talking about, she was... worried.

Worried about what was going to happen to her, whatever her future events were.

And yet...

...why did she sign it?

Why did her hand slowly took the inked feather and wrote her name on the paper that could seal her destiny?

She wasn't just curious about all this. She felt... she had to be responsible. As if someone... a mysterious, outside force out there had wanted her to accept the terms of the contract. That Madoka needed to awaken whatever she had, and deal with the future.

She looked down on the paper, her name nicely written on the signature line.

"Kaname Madoka"

...

...Even the ink was blue.

"With this contract, and the Velvet Key that you possess," the man spoke once more, "you are now our guest in the Velvet Room."

A sigh of relief that she held to herself for a moment was given. She felt that the signed contract did something good.

"Now... with time already spent while you are asleep," Igor told, "it appears that we no longer have the time once you are back in reality."

"Ah, really?" She wondered. There were still some things she needed to know, and _now _she had to go? "When will I be back?"

"We can meet once more when you have awakened your potential in your path," he answered.

...At least it was better than after a long time.

"Now, go, and take care of yourself on your journey."

"Um... I will. And thank you Igor-san, Margaret-san."

And so, with their farewells gone, the beautiful Velvet Room faded to white. She still didn't know what her journey was... well, she didn't know everything. She still didn't know of her 'potential', or who that person Philemon was, but it seemed that she had something to do. Maybe even only herself, as it looked, but the answers she wanted will wait for another time.

She would be here again. And hopefully, she would understand what was going on.

* * *

...

...

"I... made it..."

...

"I made it... and yet... I can do no more...

"But the key... I saw it shine... when she fell asleep...

"Then... did it work...?"

...

...

"I believe that... it worked...

"Then... thank you... Arisato...

"Thank you... for helping me...

...

"Your... your assistance... won't be in vain...

"I will... one day... I will explain it all... to her..."

...

"Even if you... have no memories...

"...thank you."

* * *

**Finish!**

**The "beautiful aria of the soul"... hah.**

**Eh... wasn't too sure on how the 'contract' with the Velvet Room exactly works, so I had no choice but to improvise. Plus I had some last-minute edits and stuff and so I think I made something seem off. Oh well.**

**Next chapter? Easy. After that? Hell. I'm sure I'll have trouble with the many Tarot Arcana soon.**

**Now then...**

**Until the next Blue Moon.**


	2. Chapter 1 - Restart

**Whee.**

**So here is the first Chapter, Restart. Now it stands to say that I could just upload this and the second Chapter as just one and I wouldn't mind, but the length was... quite a strong one (Over 13000 words... eh), and I don't think I want to drown a lot of people in a long page. So, Restart. Madoka gets her Persona. What happens next? Flying parasols? I doubt it.**

**kijin666: I was talking about visually, but thanks for the info anyways.**

**Awaken Your Potential! Start!**

* * *

And the timing was no less exact when an awakened Madoka raised her eyes just after her encounter in that place... the Velvet Room, and rose up. Where she now found herself on was a soft bed. Along with a pink doll she was cuddling herself with. The room she was in this time was less... enchanting. Well, it was her personal cute room illuminated by morning rays...

It was morning...

But just before, she found herself in that peculiar blue room, mysterious all around, and was said to be encountering misfortune of some sort. Not only that, the people that resided there were a strange long-nosed man, a beautiful woman, and a stylish duo. And that was _magic _that was displayed in front of her when it came to the fortune-telling cards and the contract! Magic!

...Right?

...

...She was probably _really _sleepy when she dreamed.

There really was _no way _that magic could exist. She might have been, and was still, immersed in magical fantasies, more so in magical girls, but she knew well that magic couldn't _possibly _exist. Maybe the fortune telling moment was something to think about, but that wasn't real. If magic existed, it would have happened in reality, right in front of her for a picture.

"So... it was all just a dream?"

A bit embarrassed that her hopes were predictably crushed, she sagged.

Well, it was time for school. It wasn't as if the dream was important, but it was fun to think about it. After all, it looked pretty cool on her perspective with those cards and stuff. But she had her life to take care of, and one that didn't involve unbelievable magic.

Her cuddly doll was left to rest on her bed as she stood up. The girl soon set her bed fo-

"!?"

Something shined as it fell... a key?

A shape that seemed like a key dropped down to the floor from her side of the bed, having Madoka to react a bit quicker on wanting to know what it really was. It couldn't be, and she still couldn't believe it when she picked it up. But after her short observation, it was indeed a pristine key that glowed slightly in pure blue.

...

"It... _wasn't _a dream?"

And so, as she held the key onto her, her encounter in the Velvet Room would be on her mind all day. School became second.

* * *

Morning rays, twinkling reflections, refreshing breaths...

They were all part of her usual route to school.

The daytime bliss as they went for a new day was always prepared for everyone who enjoyed their lives. Madoka as usual took in the atmosphere of brightness as she walked with her best friends Sayaka and Hitomi on the road to school. It was just another one of those peaceful, ordinary days anyone can easily get accustomed to, no hesitation done to try to accept it.

It was really offending to the natural peace designed by human and nature when Sayaka was... merely 'curious' about the success to Madoka's cuteness. Which went pretty downhill than how it sounded.

School today didn't start out much like the usual, with a new student arriving on the grounds. After a rather humorous talk about men choosing their options very carefully for their close ones, said student came in, which their teacher hinting that the new girl was the reason for her advice.

'Akemi Homura', the student was named.

It wasn't hard to tell that she was pretty, and pretty mysterious. She was quiet, reserved, almost as if loud noise of anything wouldn't nudge her for even a bit. Despite her silent demeanor, she seemed free on voicing some of her interests and maybe a few hobbies once a crowd gathered around her, but that was it. Anything else about her traits was shrouded without knowledge, as the new student felt there was no need to delve into more explanations. Explanations that people would soon forget, some sane people thought.

...After that was when things were starting to get strange.

"Kaname Madoka-san. You are the nurse's aide for this class, are you not?"

...Too strange.

Well, it was still probably coincidence, given that Homura may have asked who it was in case she needed to go, but it was strange overall. How did she really know that Madoka was the aide for the nurse? That... unknown aura emitting from her wasn't helping at all.

Still, it didn't seem like Homura would try anything funny with that serious expression on her, Madoka hoped, and so the pinkette obliged on her request. It was actually revealed that she did ask their teacher to know who it was.

...Did she had to act mysterious about it, though?

As they walked through the quiet hallways, lessons in other classrooms already being taught, Madoka figured it would be hard to get a reading on her. Wasn't Akemi Homura slightly more talkative before the stress caught up to her? Madoka just wanted to cheer the new girl up somewhat, have her open up to people, even if it would only be by a short distance. It was a little weird for her to be addressed by her first name, though. But stumbling on what to say to her didn't exactly help, even trying to form a conversation was hard if she looked more frustrated and turned around suddenly. Why did she have to be this quiet anyway?

But her next words weren't as much rage as the pink-haired girl thought.

"Kaname Madoka. Do you treasure the life you currently live? Do you consider your family and friends precious?"

...Composed, mysterious, silent. Traits that can be easily described when it came to Homura.

"W-well, I... yes, I do. Both my family and my friends... I love all of them, and consider them very precious!"

"Do you really?"

"Yes, really! I couldn't lie about that."

"...I see. If that's the case, then you wouldn't try to change the person you currently are, would you?"

"I..."

Her heart stopped for a moment.

Could she say that she wouldn't change? That Madoka would still stay the same? There was something that held her back, prevented her from pointing out the obvious.

Back in that dream... the dream that wasn't a dream...

That she held some kind of 'potential'... that she was some kind of a chosen one...

She still needed answers, but the place she was summoned to foretold her life. To carry that power and get through the approaching storm...

...Would she still be the same?

"I... well..."

"...Kaname-san?"

Her eyes snapped back to reality when it was none other than Homura who pulled her head back up with her voice. Right, she still had a question...

"...I would still be myself," Madoka answered with a resolute smile. An unfortunate event would happen to her, now that she knew, but with a question like that... "I shouldn't change if I have no reason to. But... why?"

Homura only gave a slight nod before speaking back. "If you do, you will end up losing everything around you."

"...Huh?"

"You should stay as you are, Kaname Madoka. Stay as you are, and as you shall always be."

And so, with the most developing and understanding conversation between the two (for this day at least) gone and away, Homura left the girl, looking as if she actually did know about the grounds too well.

...There really was something odd about her. Not just the strange air she came with, but that she spoke pretty well as if she knew what a person could only do. Perhaps... she was the oppressor that the woman, Margaret, was it? Maybe Homura was the 'oppressor'? But she didn't seem forward at all on wanting what Madoka needed to do for... whatever she wanted. So what was the talk about changing into a different person, then?

...

So many questions, so little theories...

...

Deep beyond the bridge the two once stood upon, the raven-haired girl wondered if something felt... off in that little exchange.

...It was probably nothing to worry about, she settled on. Hopefully.

* * *

School has passed...

Not without surprising notes, though. Earlier, right in the middle of this day, which Madoka already considered unusual enough, Homura made it seem that she had very little trouble going into equations that looked... beyond the normal level for the class. After that came her record during the open field, a record that broke into the top of the list.

...Yes. This day would only get weirder and weirder.

Hour after hour flew off to way beyond noon, and Madoka found herself in a neat restaurant, explaining to Sayaka and Hitomi... whatever Homura was trying to say to her back in school. Obviously she was strange, a bit cryptic in some way, much to the dismay of the three. The scarce details of the new student shrouded in mystery led to Sayaka's small rant of said student, Homura's actions during the daylight coining her as a 'crazy New Age weirdo' and all.

After hearing the end of a frustrated Sayaka's silly rant as she dropped her head, Hitomi chirped in. "Madoka-san, are you sure you've never met Akemi-san before?"

"Well..."

All thoughts that were centered on the raven-haired girl and her silent style couldn't come up to her with memories to ring any bells. Madoka never really met the girl at all, did she? Maybe Homura once saw her earlier and she didn't notice? Or maybe...

"I can't say that I have," she then admitted. "I might have met her a long time ago, but I don't really remember when or where."

" 'Don't remember'?" Sayaka soon shot up to face Madoka... and her lips formed a deceptive smile. "What could _that _mean, Madoka? Maybe that's why she's like that? A friend from long ago, only to be forgotten like dust in the wind? Very unlike you, Madoka~..."

"That's... that doesn't mean I _wanted _to forget her!" Madoka squeaked defensively.

"But what can we do for her now?" Hitomi asked, as she seemed to be playing along as well. "She probably wished you remembered, and now she isn't open at all."

And so the pinkette really wished she found a recollection of the day she first knew Akemi Homura at that point.

But as of then, it wasn't a bad idea to think about something for the moment. When an 'unfortunate' event was said to supposedly happen soon, it could be anytime, really. The only problem was it seemed hard to tell if there was anything 'unfortunate' happening so far. Most of the day was noisy and odd, sure, but not too disruptive to daily activities and good thoughts. Akemi Homura couldn't be involved, mysterious as she was, but it was only for the time being.

A hand of her reached out to a pocket, one that held the Velvet Key, and gripped a little tightly on the proof of the 'dream' last night.

If only she knew of what would happen...

As the hour of the clock was known, Hitomi had to leave for her lessons, Tea Ceremony lessons to be exact, prompting Sayaka wanting to stop by a CD store before the two would make their leave. The waves of music were easy to hear from afar, drawing people who had their interests ignited for the rhythmic beats and soothing lyrics. For Sayaka's case, she ventured around finding a tune for her friend while Madoka left herself to her own music.

And... a call for help came to her ears...

* * *

This world...

...what was it?

A world that had life on its own... a strange universe that throws trials to those who encounter it...

It felt... eerie.

...

...

No. It didn't matter.

She was still alive, but after what had happened earlier, she wasn't able to grant her own wish...

She just needed to get stronger... to meet her after the demise of all... but this world prevented her from reaching out to _that_ world...

...

"That's fine... I can kill time here anyways..."

She hummed before her legs picked up the pace to wander around.

And her magic was drawn forth.

"And then... once I find you... I can kill you."

* * *

It was crazy.

As she held a strange white animal close to her, she realized what this was all about.

No, maybe this wasn't because of the collapsed animal she found earlier. It was already hurt to bring about something like this. It probably wasn't Homura's fault either. When she appeared, she was after the animal... in a strange costume. She may have caused the wounds of the animal, but she didn't look like she would go and... create _this _place.

This was most likely about the fortune earlier, back in her dream. She didn't have much knowledge about it, but in a world like this... full of mustached monsters, freaky butterfly things, and no sign of the dark area behind the store she was earlier, it was safe to say that this could be the event she would find herself stuck in.

It wasn't safe to say that _they _were safe, though.

As Madoka and Sayaka got closer, surrounded by the _things _that came from this new world, they wondered about what they really were seeing.

Just a bad dream, Sayaka wanted to admit badly.

If this is what Madoka was told about, then just what did she need to do...?

"Agh..."

Madoka felt a surge of pain piercing through her temples, grimacing as she tilted down. A headache...? At this moment...?

...

A voice... resounded...

_I am thou... and thou art I..._

_The time has cometh..._

_To overcome this ordeal presented to thee..._

_Awaken... your Persona..._

Who...?

As Madoka snapped her eyes awake once the pain left her, one card, mystic and blue as it was, became visible before her, floating as it was. A card? With the face of a mask on the cover? And on the other side of it, it showed a young woman in black. It looked like the card was the same one from Igor's deck... back in the dream...

"Awaken..."

She didn't entirely know why she repeated the voice. Actually, she felt forced to say that, even if she gained the strong desire to do so herself. The words the voice spoke out inside her head were all but unnecessary, as it was needed for this moment. It's as if trying to stop now would only leave a tear in her throat.

"my..."

Sayaka, still bewildered by everything, continued to watch the strange card that still floated in front of Madoka, unknown that it was ready to be called out by its master. The pink-haired girl's right hand reached out to it, still afraid to make contact with it, but there was no doubt it needed her call.

"Per..."

Raw power started to well up within her as she recited the word that appeared in her head. Rich, mysterious, and ancient power it was, as the feeling was unnatural to her lifetime. Her small body started to feel the heat of foreign energy focusing inside her with each reaction of her voice.

"so..."

The many strange creatures that were granted form started to rush and converge into the two, preparing their lethal scissors. They were, without a doubt, not human, and they never were. These monsters would kill everyone in sight, as they were born and ordered to do.

And yet, they were given no chance.

"...na!"

_Crack!_

The card was shattered by a simple crush of her hand.

"...!?"

A strike of burning pain was centered on her palm, the same one that shattered the strange object. Madoka, still holding the strange animal with her arm, gripped her hand as it felt a searing sore from crushing the card.

But that wasn't what she entirely felt.

Power that came from out of nowhere rose inside her, much more than when she was calling out the term she spoke of. It wasn't all that painful, but it was overflowing from her body, for a blue aura was generated around the small girl. This power soon cut through winds as it tried to manifest a shape above her.

She screamed, her body reacting too much from this energy. The light that surrounded her grew far larger that it engulfed the entirely new and hellish world.

And when it dimmed, not a living thing could make a sound without being in shock.

In front of the pink girl stood a small human figure. And yet, the figure that just appeared looked translucent to look real. The figure, looking like a black-haired girl, wore a plain black dress decorated with strange white symbols, black heels, and a white scarf. Behind her back was what appeared to be a sword held in its sheath, and a wide archery bow. The white sheath and white bow had the same symbols as the dress.

The strange girl took a sight at the creatures, the... _things _that tried to attack the three. With surprise for Madoka and Sayaka in the next second, the girl managed to draw her bow out and forge an arrow out of thin air, releasing the bolt to one of the monsters, the strike powerful enough to make it disintegrate completely. The next, she dashed forward as the sword she held cleaved three more, who were given not a simple chance to react, in a wide range.

Such grace... such speed... such strength...

She soon returned to the three with a backwards leap and looked at Madoka. Her eyes were completely blank, for only the color white was on them. They were the only parts that were off as the rest of the body looked human.

Then, the voice from earlier returned and radiated within her once more.

_I am thou... and thou art I..._

_From the sea of thy soul, I come forth..._

_I am Alpha... the Beginning of All..._

And soon, the figure dispersed into nothingness as she left a card... the same card Madoka crushed... and merged with her master as her power was returned with a soothing light.

...What did she just _do_?

"Whoa..." was all Sayaka could muster up for... something to say.

...No. There was no time to stay in awe as the mustached creatures moved once more, preparing their scissors-like attack once more. It was only four out of many monsters destroyed. They needed to do something to defeat them. They needed to survive!

"M-Madoka!" Sayaka called out, seeing the monsters moving again. "Try doing that thing again!"

"Huh?" Madoka wondered in panic before realizing what she was trying to say. "Ah, right!"

She needed to think about the person... Alpha, the girl that saved them for a moment. As Madoka closed her eyes for focus, in her thoughts, she imagined the same soul that just destroyed the four out of a lot that tried to attack her. The girl in black that executed her attacks with no hesitation and no flaw. She had saved her life once, she was needed to do it again.

The same girl, Alpha, appeared in front of Madoka as a card, waiting for her call.

"Per... Persona!"

Her right hand swiped the card, and Alpha took form in this world, in her same attire once more.

"Please... get rid of them!" Her master ordered.

Her sword was drawn out, and was ready to tear her enemies to shreds. The monsters with mustaches had changed their attacks to go against her, but her speed this time didn't deny the earlier demonstration, being truly identical. The sharp edges the creatures tried to connect to her had nothing to touch to, for she not only evaded the attacks easily, her silver sword sliced through the sharp black edges that lunged to her. It then ripped apart the heads of the monsters, their separate bodies soon becoming black dust carried by the wind.

There were too many, but they had to keep going.

The girl in black, Alpha, then raised her battle sword, and sent power from the blade to their surrounding enemies. What happened next was gathering winds having concentrated spots on the enemies in the perimeter, with the cutting gusts bursting to strike heavily on the monsters. The lifeless beings that were caught in them were blown off from the world, possibly no longer active after taking the blunt attacks, let alone the ground they would land on from a large fall.

Madoka blinked. She blinked because she thought there was something even more unbelievable.

It was true magic. Alpha... she somehow commanded the winds to come forth and strike those mustached things with just a sword being raised. Those small wind bursts _had _to be from her. Not only was the girl in black both a sword wielder and an archer, she was able to lead the winds to attack the enemies!

"So powerful..." the summoner whispered. Sayaka still couldn't believe it either.

Alpha... she said she came from the sea of... her soul... did it come from Madoka to protect her? If so, she was without a doubt being a miracle for her.

But even if she kept on going like this, it just wouldn't be enough.

There were still too many enemies surrounding the three on all sides, ready to attack the three as their instincts told them to. That wind attack... she didn't know why, but Madoka felt that it was a bit too much for her to use. So many enemies... even if the figure Alpha moved in to deal with the next group, there would still be more...

"Ah..."

Madoka turned around to see a patch of those things having their chained scissors taken out. There really was so many...

"M-Madoka..." Her friend muttered in fear as she backed away from the closing circle of monsters. "What... what do we do?"

She didn't know. She really didn't know...

And that was when there was a change as chains of some sort started to fall from the blackened sky, lining up like a circle with the two standing on the middle. Upon seeing the last of the chains falling down, what came next was a gradient floor appearing below them that blew off the many monsters. The trio and Alpha didn't seem to be affected by the prismatic lights, though, but Alpha soon returned to nothing. Maybe it was because she saw that there were no more of those things, no more targets left, and so she fulfilled her role and disappeared.

And what came right after that...

"That was close, but you're safe now."

The two schoolgirls were unsurprisingly startled by a new voice, and then turned around to find the source of it. The sound belonged to a young woman donning the same uniforms the two were wearing. Her golden hair was shaped to two drills, and had a hairpin on her left side. She was holding some kind of a glowing artifact with her fingers.

...Was she the reason why those monsters disappeared?

"Oh, you rescued Kyubey for me, didn't you?" She asked, if she was getting the picture right. "Thank you, he's a dear friend of mine."

"Him?" Madoka wondered as she looked at the sleeping white animal she was carrying. "I... I was called to him. I heard his voice inside my head."

"I see," the blonde sounded. Back to the environment, she then felt that something was amiss, and scanned the area around them, searching for something. "What happened to the other one? She was black, and she held a sword and was attacking the familiars."

"Oh, you mean..." Madoka spoke up, about to answer that it was Alpha...

And just when she could start explaining things (or at least try to), a wall of black, sickly vines sprout forth, placing back the danger in the strange area. It seemed that whatever was causing this nightmare wasn't over just yet.

"Ah," the woman casually said in the occurring event, a smile strung on her as she prepared for her next task, "please wait for a moment. I can handle this one."

* * *

Back in the Velvet Room, with the appearance of an airplane still kept, a duo in blue who recently resided in this place were focusing on the pieces of a board. Rai happened to be clinging onto the bottom section of the rope when he was taken aback by Luna's excellent counter. There were barely any black pawns left, his bishops were gone and so were his knights. Luna had only little trouble making through his defenses, for only a few pawns were sacrificed.

Though just when it seemed to be the end of the line, Rai had an advantage with a rook, reaching the spot and knocking over a knight. The spot had no way for an attack to reach at the moment, so if he saw the few patterns correctly and used either of them to his adva-

"So you plan on taking Madoka Kaname with you in that place?" Came the voice on the other side of the room. It belonged to Margaret.

The girl, Luna, darted her gaze to the woman. "It will be difficult if we attempt to do it with only me and Rai. Now that we have one who can wield the Wild Card, and since said holder is slightly powerful on her own, we will need her assistance on trying to find the history of that place."

"Hm..." the long-nosed man muttered, his grin still intact, "I feel that her Journey will give her hidden answers if she proceeds to that world. Please, do allow her in that place."

"Then I guess you two wouldn't happen to mind," Rai spoke up, assembling a few things he just figured out. "I'm sure you foresaw it as well, even if it probably wasn't clear. That world has a connection to the recent events, it seems."

"Be sure to treat our guest well," the owner of the Velvet Room reminded them. "That world is not straightforward with everyone. But your Personae combined should be enough to uncover answers."

"Understood," Luna obliged with a smile, and the two returned to their decisive game.

...

"Not bad," the girl spoke after observing the board. "To corner me just like this..."

"I hope you do have a counter after a few turns," Rai playfully said.

"I sure hope so, too..."

* * *

The dilemma was rather over for a moment. It turns out that the 'Witch', presumably what caused the strange place to appear, just went up and left. The same was said for Homura, who wanted the strange creature Madoka held, and left without causing any more problems. The blonde, known as Mami after being thanked by the creature named Kyubey, used her powers to heal the wounds the strange creature received from earlier.

Apparently, this Kyubey was... well, he seemed to have a mind of things. He was able to tell their own names, so he was probably some kind of mind reader. When he gained Madoka's and Sayaka's attention thanks to his abilities, he then merely explained his intention for the two.

"I want you to make contracts with me and become magical girls!"

...Unfortunately for him, the one person who was interested in magical girls was... exhausted.

"Magical girls..." Madoka wearily muttered, already wobbly. Her eyes only gave her a blur, the density increasing more and more. How long has she held her consciousness? Was it because of the girl that appeared before her?

The others gave a curious glance at the girl, no doubt that something was... wrong.

"That... sounds kind of nice..."

"Madoka...?" Sayaka whispered to her extremely tired friend. "Are you okay?"

"I'm... fine..."

_Thud._

* * *

"Ugh..."

Pain. The girl felt the back of her own head absorbed in pain. Well, really, her head only felt soreness, nothing too serious, but it was a bit painful. As she rubbed the back of her head, she got up and tried to push her eyes open, trying her best to quickly disregard the blur she was seeing at first.

White. The sky was white.

"Huh?"

No. She was pretty sure that she was with Sayaka, the blonde... Mami was it? She was with them and the unique animal named Kyubey in a dark apartment. A very dark apartment. So how exactly did the place come to white? No, not just a blank sky, there were colored blocks _floating _in the air. Was it the witch that Mami mentioned earlier? Or...

"Ah, good, you're awake."

Madoka was unsurprisingly startled with the voice, even if it was a little familiar. To her right was a black-haired girl in blue. The same one who donned a blue dress and a bent pointed hat that resided in that Velvet Room place.

"L... Luna?" Madoka croaked. Waking up a bit weakly wasn't expected.

"So you remember me," Luna beamed. "How kind of you. Yes. I was the one in the Velvet Room next to my brother Rai."

She still looked the same as last time. She really had to be Luna.

Madoka got up, her head still feeling sore, but it was already going away as time passed. What she was about to say was cut off by the other girl. "Don't move too much in the first few minutes. It will take longer to recover from waking up in here if you do."

"Ah, right..." Madoka commented, and then...

...The world _was _different. It wasn't just the sky that was already strange, everywhere around was white with blocks hanging themselves on nothing as well. The floor... well, the silver-colored circular floor was pretty solid enough, since she was resting on it just now, that's for certain. Looking around more, she saw that on the floor weren't just the girls; a few strange objects and something that looked like a treasure chest were placed on the floor as well. And blue doors etched on a wall stood behind her.

...

"Luna-san," Madoka whispered, looking incredulous of the place, "wh... what is this place?"

"Welcome to the world that has not been named yet," Luna shrugged at her answer. Only gaining a confused look (naturally), she then explained further. "This world has appeared next to our mental spaces just recently. And I am sure there's a reason for its existence, but we do not entirely know why."

A strange place... eerie it was. But...

"Why are we here?" The pinkette wondered.

"I am here because my brother and I decided to find its purpose," she answered. "As for you... well, you came here because of your relationship to it."

"What? Me?" What did this world have with her? Was it because of her powers?

"We can explain more clearly in the Velvet Room that's behind you," she instructed as she pointed to the doors past Madoka, who turned to see them. "While you were asleep, we created a portal to the Velvet Room through those doors."

"Ah... that place...?"

The Velvet Room, the world she found herself in when she was asleep... She looked down, wondering if the key was still in her possessio-

...

"L-L-Luna-san?" She stuttered, her face flushing in embarrassment, "wh-what happened to my...?"

"Our apologies," the girl in blue sighed. "Connecting to this place with your mind doesn't mean you can keep your wardrobe. We didn't have enough time to set up a gateway system to your room either."

A shriek.

Racing to her limit was her movement on trying to cover up her spots. Not only did she have nothing to hold her secrets of a girl, Luna was barely making sense to her!

"L-Luna-san..."

"Do not worry. We have already went on ahead to prepare clothes for you."

"B-but still...!"

The blue doors burst forth, making a loud sound as the doors slammed the walls. The person who came out was none other than the one in a top hat holding some kind of a dress. To the accident, Rai had his eyes closed, rather... knowledgeable of the problem that stood before him.

"Wear this," he muttered as he pushed a fancy-looking costume to the pink-haired girl.

"Huh?" Came the girl's response, clouded at the second.

"Wear this," he growled, "or do I actually have to look?"

...Wearing it without question was a better idea than stalling the two.

It was only for a minute or two, as the pinkette was finished with the dress-up. It was in a color seen a lot as of late; blue. It was a basic dress, actually. There wasn't anything decorative about it, just two rows of connecting white hexagons on the chest area and the waist area. Not looking like a chain, but the sides of the shapes being shared. The only other apparel aside from the dress was a pair of blue slippers.

Being able to face each other once more, Madoka soon spoke up. "Luna-san, you said something about not being able to make something to bring my stuff."

Luna nodded. "You have yet to show us where your household is."

...Well, that was true.

"That doesn't matter now," Rai grunted, seeming as if he wanted to avoid all of this already. "We can say that you have questions for us, correct?"

"Ah, yes," Madoka answered. "About 'Persona', this world... everything that's happening."

"Then we shall head on to the Velvet Room," he replied, pointing back to the doors. "You can gain answers this time."

Unlike previous times, Luna noted, Rai had no hesitation nor stalling moment when he walked forward to the doors. Madoka merely blinked on how fast he directed himself.

"He only dislikes making the explanations, leaving Igor to handle the conversation," Luna explained for Madoka, grinning as she teased. "But he's right. We should get going."

"R-right," Madoka obliged.

As they reached to the handles of the doors that lead to a familiar room, the consciousness of Kaname Madoka drifted onward...

* * *

**Finish!**

**Some saying Forest 1 is too short? Forest 2 is just around the corner. Have fun with that.**


	3. Chapter 2 - Reprise

**Whee x2.**

**And now for... Chapter 1.5? Part 2 of part 1? Bah, whatever. Chapter 2, Reprise. Me being slightly unoriginal and all, though it's not gonna be Tartarus in every aspect. After all, connections to the recent events can change around at least half of the things.**

**...Ah, riiight. Alpha. Stats. And the rest of the Personae. That'll be up in the post-chapter note.**

**Soul and Psyche! Start!**

* * *

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

And just like that, Madoka was placed on the same position in the same airplane-like room. The greeting from the long-nosed Igor, grinning as usual, was also of nostalgia from the night ago. To her right, Margaret was sitting on her passenger seat, watching the guest as she did before. To her left, Luna and Rai also sat in their same seats, watching Madoka as well. This time, though, there was a game board with pieces of pawns, horses, rooks, and the like standing about.

...The twins must have gotten bored.

Madoka placed her attention back to the proprietor of the Velvet Room. "It's nice to see everyone again, Igor-san," she greeted back.

"Yes, especially since you have now awakened your Persona," Igor spoke in delight.

Of course, everyone knew just what she was here for.

"I have to ask," Madoka started off, "just what is 'Persona'? Is it someone who helps me?"

"A corresponding detail of a Persona, yes," the man answered. "Personae are manifestations of one's psyche, a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli. You can think of a Persona as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships."

"You mean... just now..." When Alpha appeared once Madoka's life was in danger...

"That's right. When you were placed in a dangerous situation, your Persona, Alpha, heeded your cry, and awakened upon your call."

"...I think I get it."

Then that really explains why Alpha, the girl in black that appeared before Madoka, protected her, Sayaka, and Kyubey from those monsters. She was really thankful that Alpha showed up in time, but now wasn't the time to think about that.

"When you use your Persona ability, summoning one, to be precise," Igor continued to explain, "you must channel your inner strength, your mind as it may be. Such power right now, however, will not be enough to overcome all obstacles."

It was true. Alpha didn't have the strength or power to completely protect them. They were only lucky to make it out alive thanks to that girl, Mami, her name was, intervening at the best time possible.

Alpha... wasn't enough.

"So... how do I get stronger...?"

"To evolve your ability, you must gain the trust from the bonds of those you are close with. With each Social Link discovered, and each moment spent as you stay with your relatives, you can find yourself holding more stronger Personae than only Alpha."

Spending time with relatives and close ones... are those Social Links? Given the name, it probably sounded more obvious...

But at least she was able to understand the concept of what Personae are, and how to use them for her battles. Granted, this brought up another question.

"What... happened back there when I was awake?"

Everything happened in just mere moments. Homura was chasing after them in some outfit, the world around changed, the witch said to be controlling it appeared... Alpha's existence was already explained. Mami attacked the monsters with magic, Kyubey talking about contracts and magical girls, and... Madoka then passed out...

"Unfortunately," it was not Igor doing the speaking, but rather Luna, with her voice pointing Madoka to her, "this has been happening for a while, and as of yet, we do not know the cause of it."

"And even with our observations," Rai continued on, "all we can deduce is that the Witches, and the power that those hold to defeat them, are of ancient times. And yet we do not know exactly when."

"Which now brings us to the world the three of you were on."

And finally, Margaret spoke forth, bringing Madoka to look at her. "The world you were on has just appeared the night we first met. There is a connection with the recent events you have seen to the new world. The power the world is saturated with is equivalent to the Witches, altered, however, as it may be."

So the world she was on had some meaning to what happened earlier... no, wait. They said the power was from ages past, so... did Witches exist long ago?

"As for the reason to why you are brought to the new world," Igor spoke again, "we believe that it also has an unidentified relation with you."

"With... me?" That world? What did it have to do with her?

"Luna and I were planning on taking you along to see if you had something to do with it," Rai admitted, "but we barely did much to ensure you would come to the strange world, unintentionally as it was."

It was confusing, really. Madoka never stepped on such a place, let alone hear or see it. How did she establish a connection to it before?

"We believe that it would be best for you to uncover the secret as to why you can reach out to the world," Igor explained. "If you can uncover the secrets to the phenomenons you have experienced, surely the end of your Journey shall be known."

Her Journey...

Before she could even ask more, Igor had to get his final words in with a gesture of his hand. "Time marches on in every world, and so should you if you wish to move on. Until we meet again."

* * *

"Ah..."

Back in the strange world... with Rai and Luna already in front of her. It seemed that some questions couldn't be answered by them...

"Do not worry," Rai assured somewhat. "You'll soon get used to all of this."

"...'All of this'?"

The two residents then sported bewildered looks when Madoka spoke with little life and a frown. She looked... disappointed, displeased. Most likely because of the recent events that threw her off the world around her.

"Ah... I'm sorry," she quietly apologized as she tried to explain. "Well, all of this is so sudden... that world, this world, magical girls, Persona..." All of it unnaturally became part of her normal life. What was she supposed to do about it...?

"You will just have to accept it."

As Madoka gave a glance to Luna, now that she sounded for the three, the sister then continued. "It has already happened before your eyes, has it not? Then it's no illusion, so you can make no mistake."

"I... I know that..." The pinkette sighed. There was no way out of it, after all...

"If you know it well," Rai cut in, "then you wouldn't mind if we decided to brief on our situation."

A tad insensitive, considering Madoka's worries. Proving that was Rai earning glares from the girls. Their eyes weren't staggering, but it made Rai shrug, only gesturing that he really can't do anything for Madoka if she was still doubtful. Luna hesitantly but surely agreed with a nod before deciding to go after the topic as well.

This was reality, after all.

"Well then," Luna spoke up, bringing Madoka to the main issue, "We've already explained it to you that this world has appeared with connections to the real world's events. Because you've witnessed the events from earlier, you can now serve as a link and deduce on the connections."

" 'Deduce on the connections'? How do I do that?" Madoka wondered.

"We can find answers the deeper we go in while you form links to the events and this world," Rai answered. He then pointed to one of the strange devices Madoka sighted earlier.

The one he was pointing to was an odd circular panel large enough to fit some people on the face of it. The center of the large panel was a green color, while the material surrounding it was well-carved steel. Just behind it was some pole, also made with steel.

There was another device as well, but it had no color on the center. It didn't seem to be active. Next to them was a stone statue in place, a maiden as it looked. Didn't seem too out of the ordinary though...

"The device that's active there," Rai continued, "that will lead us to the first set of floors. We can start from there."

"Once we enter, however," Luna then added, "we can't go back from it."

"...Eh?"

It was some urge that was pushing Madoka to greatly panic after hearing the bad news, but she narrowly stopped it. Not without some shock instilling in her shaking body.

"Wh... what do you mean?" If this really meant she was going to traverse through this world for a long time...

"You do realize there's more to that small detail," Rai sighed as he watched Luna giggling. "We would not be here explaining to you if there were no exits the first time we entered."

Madoka's fidgeting was thrown to a halt. That's right, they ventured maybe a few times in there if they knew there wasn't an easy way out. "You two like to have fun, don't you...?" She muttered. They probably have more antics up their sleeves, she thought.

"And now for another thing."

Right on Rai's cue, a blue card similar to Madoka's card gained form in front of him, but the main picture of it being different. A strange humanoid kid with blinding bangs and an open smile.

"I'm sure you know how to draw out a Persona card like this, do you?" He inquired for her knowledge as he watched Madoka staring at the card. Although it was not the question she had on her mind.

"You can summon a Persona too, Rai-san?" She asked, the question a bit from out of nowhere.

"Most of us that reside in the Velvet Room have such power," Luna informed. "But that's not the question here."

"Ah. Um..."

How did she do it? She recalled the moment when she summoned Alpha since that time...

_...She needed to think about the person... Alpha, the girl that saved them for a moment. As Madoka closed her eyes for focus, in her thoughts, she imagined the same soul that just destroyed the four out of a lot that tried to attack her. The girl in black who appeared from the card and executed her attacks with no hesitation and no flaw. She had saved her life once, she was needed to do it again._

_The same girl, Alpha, appeared in front of Madoka as a card, waiting for her call..._

"...Oh!"

It was just like that. Madoka remembered that she needed to only think of the card that held Alpha, the one she has with her, in front of her. Just like last time.

"...Eh?"

_Cleave, Single Shot, Magaru, Rakunda..._

Madoka blinked. Twice. "Single Shot, Magaru, Rakunda...?"

"...Those would be the techniques that Persona has." Madoka then directed her attention to Luna, who was once more speaking. "You can command your Persona to execute one of those 'Skills', and it will do so under your order."

"Skills...?" She repeated. "You mean... magic?"

"You can experiment with them once we start inside," came Rai's words, looking a little irritated on the conversation. He soon stopped near the device, his glare then focused on the two.

"...Well we do run on limited time in this world," Luna slowly agreed as she and Rai both knew how the world basically operated. "But we need to make sure she's prepared to enter..."

"Um... you don't mind if I understand Persona when we're in?"

As a response to Madoka's question, curious stares were directed to her. In turn, she elaborated on it more.

"I'm sure I can learn it when we're in there, right?"

"Ah," Luna understood, nodding. "Yes. I do not need to expect much, but I'm positive you'll adapt without needing knowledge or preparations beforehand..."

She then trailed off, almost forgetting something before she turned to Madoka, still clueless to their discussion.

"...You have a weapon, yes?"

...

"...Eh? A weapon? I have to fight?"

* * *

And Madoka wasn't holding a weapon.

In honesty, the duo were so focused on giving her decent knowledge of Persona and the status of both worlds that the thought of her weapon of choice in battles never crossed their minds. Then again, considering that Madoka was detained in her normal life, the fantasy borders not bypassed, the awkward idea of a small and cute schoolgirl holding a sword for self-defense wasn't well-liked either. Luna did say that they have yet to plan on... that system they wanted to give to Madoka in order to carry objects from dream to reality and vice-versa.

That probably would have been convenient if it happened earlier.

Still, it didn't hinder Madoka from fighting onwards.

Upon stepping onto the panel together, they were covered by a pillar of light on the device, and soon enough they found themselves placed on the first floor, a stone-walled area with a checkered floor and with no ceiling. Above the open floor, the eerie blank sky with scattered blocks was still there, viewable from their conditions.

It was already starting to get creepy.

"The enemies we fight here are Shadows," Rai decided to explain to Madoka as he stepped forward, "small entities formed by negative thoughts from humans."

"Negative thoughts..." Madoka pondered along. "Um... by negative... do you mean when someone feels bad?"

"It is a basic way of detailing it, but yes," Luna confirmed. "Humans unknowingly form shadows if they should come to think like so. They can manifest anywhere, preferably a place where reality doesn't interfere with their existence, much like this place."

Shadows... born from the weaknesses of people...

"Then... what we need to do is drive out all the Shadows with our Personae?" The pinkette asked. It sounded like a simple goal, to be honest.

"While that is the purpose to get stronger," Rai answered, "we cannot defeat all the Shadows, for they reappear like insects thanks to the many humans. And it's only to gain strength, like I mentioned."

"That is our purpose for the moment with Madoka, though," his sister spoke to him. Ah, yes, Madoka wasn't suited for combat as of yet.

"It's why I asked," Madoka sighed, the topic revolving back to the same question. "Do we defeat them?"

"As we go down the floors, yes," Luna spoke, shifting her arm to point at the hallway ahead.

Well it made some amount of sense. The new world had a labyrinth of sorts that was infested with monsters called Shadows. One could not actually remove all of them, but defeating them makes the person traversing the place stronger. Maybe the deeper they went, the more powerful Shadows would start to appear.

...It sounded a lot like those games the people tend to play with.

The three soon decided to move onward, leaving Madoka to know what Shadows do and how to handle them. The strange maze of this world, if it could be called that with the corridors splitting up, was quiet. It was kind of empty, nothing of anything notable in particular around, nothing standing in the way. It was mostly quiet, save for the three's running footsteps and odd sludge-like sounds they were starting to pick up.

...Were they the Shadows the trio discussed earlier?

The three continued to moved forward, but slowed their pace down, the sound becoming clear that it was a Shadow. A little more distance covered, and it then showed some kind of black slime. With arms.

It was alive...

It didn't notice the three, however. It was turned away for now, so...

"Watch closely," Rai whispered to Madoka, to which her response was a nod, still unaware what he was planning. He inched closer and closer to the black thing, hoping that he wasn't making even the slightest sound to the Shadow. Only a few more steps for his plan before it could start.

Three more...

Two more...

One more...

And so his sword ripped through the unsuspecting Shadow.

Right on cue, with Madoka and Luna, holding a short hammer at that, entering the premises and joining Rai. The black living slime split apart into dust before some groups of it reformed, three groups to be exact. The two in front of the travelers shaped themselves to be like the black slime earlier, however they wore odd blue masks, while the one behind became some kind of round striped... thing with a large mouth.

They appeared to be slightly dazed when they first came out. Was it because of Rai attacking the Shadows first?

"One will gain the advantage if they take the initiative before they prepare themselves," he informed to Madoka. "It's a great tactic overall."

Striking first? It'd definitely be an advantage...

"Since this is your first battle," Luna chimed in, "why don't you go ahead and summon your Persona?"

"Um... o-okay!" Madoka understood.

It became simply clear. Enemies were in front, and so it was Alpha she needed to summon again. She dove into her thoughts to reach out to the woman in her heart, and called her out to the field. Her card was waiting to be used by her master.

"Persona...!"

And the knight of the beginning was brought out. The names of the Skills she heard of were imprinted on her mind.

"Single Shot on that Shadow!"

Under Madoka's order, Alpha nimbly readied her bow and arrow, and let loose the small spear through the air and struck against the first Shadow, the first black slime with the blue mask. The blow may have pierced the Shadow, but it continued to stand from such an attack.

"Obariyon," Rai called forth as he took his turn, summoning his Persona. "Sonic Punch on that Cowardly Maya!"

Appearing from Rai was an orange grinning boy with blinding bangs... he was the same card Rai showed earlier, wasn't he? The tailed boy delivered a solid fist to the slime Madoka first attacked... a Cowardly Maya, he called it.

Just from those two attacks, the first Cowardly Maya dissolved into nothingness...

Only the second Maya and the other Shadow left.

"Pixie, Zio on that Maya!"

The Persona Luna summoned was a small red-haired demon in blue, with wings born with her to levitate. With a flicker of the Pixie's hand, a shock from the open sky came crashing down to the second Cowardly Maya. Unlike Alpha attacking the first with Single Shot, however, Zio managed to destroy the balance the Maya had... well, if the 'balance' looked any different, but it seemed to be less active, less movement after the strike.

Then... it was down?

"Zio on Slipping Hablerie!"

Luna's Pixie soon brought forth another lightning bolt and struck the tongued spherical Shadow, also effectively knocking him down to the ground.

"Did she... do that?" Madoka murmured on how quickly the Shadows fell quick to Luna.

"Ah, right," Rai blurted in disbelief that he forgot to mention a vital factor to the rules. "Elemental weaknesses," he explained to Madoka. "Most out of everyone has them, including us. If we find a Shadow's weakness first, we can exploit it before ours can get discovered."

"So, what Luna-san did just now..."

"Zio. Electric Skill. The enemies are down because of electricity."

"I guess that makes sense," she responded as she looked on the temporary-limp bodies. "Should we continue attacking?"

"Yes, but there's another option you should learn," Luna spoke, drawing her eyes on the downed targets away to the girl. "All enemies are now down for now, so if we do it at least nearly precisely..."

* * *

That attack... probably didn't make sense.

...Well, okay, given that it was about the defenses of the enemies being down, it kind of makes sense to Madoka that people would engage in beatdowns. Odd in that they actually have to flail around aimlessly like that, but it wasn't like she needed to care, she supposed.

What didn't make sense was why they were carrying money. Yen.

"Since Shadows are formed by human thoughts," Luna once said, "it would at least make a little more sense that the Shadows have their worth equal to the negativity."

...It still didn't make sense.

But at any rate, Madoka started off on understanding the rules of the battles, even without a weapon. The clothes the residents of the Velvet Room prepared for her were meant to ward off weak blows, something she'd have to stop relying on if she needed to dodge attacks. After all, the power resonating from it would get weaker if it kept on getting damaged, the twins explained.

On a similar note, she recalled the 'Skills' as Luna put it, that are powers her Persona Alpha has, and soon understood their aspects. Cleave and Single Shot were Skills that are self-explanatory. Cleave has Alpha slicing through enemies while Single Shot used her bow and arrows. Magaru was soon memorable once Madoka saw the winds bursting on enemies in range, the same attack that was used against those mustached monsters back in the real world. And last, Rakunda saw a blue sphere closing on an enemy before rattling it for a moment. Rai, this time, had little trouble explaining that Rakunda lowers one's defense.

Yes. She knew it already that it was magic, but she didn't seem surprised, given what has been going on for a while...

"Is something on your mind?"

Madoka's head lifted up towards Luna, remembering that they were still in the same floor. "Ah, it's nothing, Luna-san."

The three soon took a stop when a conversation was struck, with Rai facing the pinkette as well. "You seem silent for now. Are you usually this quiet?"

"Well, no..."

It was... how did she put it?

"It's just taking some time to get used to this," she finally admitted. 'This' meaning 'everything'.

"Ah, still," he articulated, hoping that this wasn't happening again. "Are you at least making progress with that? ...Please understand that I want to hear you say yes."

...

...At least he sounded honest.

"It's been a long day," she sighed. "I was... just listening to music when nothing was happening... then I had to save a white talking animal, summon someone beautiful and strong, fall asleep, and... wake up here. I think I missed out on some hours with my friends..."

She didn't really need to mention the new transfer student... well, she was weird and part of those events, but Homura wasn't necessary to talk about for now. She may have been too knowledgeable about Madoka, and was vicious on Kyubey, but... she didn't know. There was just something about her that didn't make her a person to avoid. She was just hard to trust, especially after what had happened moments ago...

Luna tried hard to make sure she wasn't giggling, except her hand covering her mouth wasn't helping her denial. Meanwhile Rai's lips twitched before resorting to a cough, also concealing his thoughts. Badly.

"...? Why are you two laughing?"

"My apologies," Luna first spoke up. "I thought I was clear earlier, but... do you still think you're awake?"

Madoka gave a puzzled expression before giving her answer, clouded as she was. "Um... I can move, I can see you... no, wait... what happened?"

"I believe I said it once," the female twin responded. "This world has recently appeared near our mental spaces... well, everyone's, to be exact."

" 'Mental spaces'? Wait, so..."

She was still asleep? And yet...

"Your consciousness is the only part of you that's in this world," the boy clarified. "That, and your appearance."

"...Ah."

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

So, she actually did fall asleep after Kyubey got up. The problem was, she wasn't awake after that, not in that world. That was only her body that was soundlessly asleep. Her mind, her consciousness, on the other hand, was sent to this world, the strange place in her dream, if it was even a dream. Her body, meanwhile, was still resting like an inanimate doll. Then that means...

"I... guess that explains a lot more on why I wasn't in that warehouse." It made more sense on why no one else she knew was with her. Why Sayaka, Mami, or even Kyubey didn't reach here. And... maybe why she was without clothes at first. She was the only one who shut her eyes from reality, unintentionally as it was.

But... was she the only one who woke up here?

"Um," Madoka shyly spoke to the twins, "am... am I the only one who got sent to this place?"

The question brought some thought to the siblings. "Were there supposed to be more?" Luna wondered.

...Guess not.

"...Never mind," Madoka sighed in disappointment. It probably would've been best if they actually did come along, mostly Sayaka though. "About the question you asked, well... I think I'm getting better." She then slightly beamed. "It's... kind of amazing and cool that I can summon someone to help me."

"The power of Persona isn't something to take lightly," Rai reminded, folding his arms. "After all, most are based on heroes and demons alike, the same ones who knew war and destruction."

Madoka cringed, if ever so just a tiny bit. Yes, Personae couldn't possibly be just from imagination. They knew their strengths and had a history on reaching that point, being famed for their actions while they reappear as cards.

She wondered... were they that great altogether?

"It's not much to worry about," Luna calmly spoke to the shaken girl. "You only need to at least understand the situation against Shadows well enough."

"Are Shadows... really this serious?" Madoka wondered in response.

'Serious'? If that wasn't the case, Rai thought, then the siblings wouldn't be involved in this world, or Persona, at all. He chucked for a moment before giving an answer.

"Such are battles."

* * *

The three entered into the next few floors of the world. The fights with Shadows were tiring, but that was all. They weren't making much of a difference the deeper the trio went. Not harder, not easier. Just the same flow they can get accustomed to.

...Though the moment where they felt an odd presence inside a treasure chest nearly disrupted it. They decided to leave it in hopes of not encountering some kind of demonic and terrifying enemy.

Aside from that, the twins later explained that they saw strong opponents on the fourth floor in their early run, but they were able to retreat after reaching to a similar device they used to enter the first area. They weren't like the treasure chest from earlier. They were actually active.

They were what they were looking at once they got there.

The Shadows, a group of three eagles, but every Shadow larger than any of the trio. These seemed to be blocking the road up ahead, even more so that they were floating on the same spot. Were they guarding the road ahead?

Their gazes were transfixed on the three as they appeared. One of them would most likely make its move if they did.

"Is that it?" Madoka questioned. It had to be; they looked pretty large than most Shadows, so...

"It's the only enemy group standing on this floor," Luna responded, still glaring at the Shadows. "They're Venus Eagles. We must defeat them if we wish to proceed further."

A clear objective.

"Don't falter too much, Madoka," Rai spoke.

"I'll... try not to," came her response.

The Venus Eagles blocking the path headed on closer to the three, neither side wanting to waver and flee. The Shadows found new targets to eliminate while the three in blue would make sure they'd proceed. They seemed strong, but it didn't mean the Persona users wouldn't at least try.

It's time.

As Luna obliged herself on taking the initiative, a card took form before her before it shattered with her hand. The Persona she summoned resembled a golden tear with a beaming face.

"Saki Mitama," its summoner Luna directed, "Bufu."

The Persona spun around for the Skill. With its power to catch its attention, shards of cool ice burst forth to the front eagle in an attempt to damage it. Instead of ice materializing from the floor, Bufu appeared in front of the large eagle. What came next was the shattering crystals, their frigid edges shredding the bird.

It did an amount, but the eagle wasn't down.

"So Ice makes no change," Luna whispered. Bufu was an elemental Ice Skill, and if it wasn't an effective element against the eagles...

"Let me try!"

Alpha's card was crushed on the palm of the pinkette, and so the girl in black readied herself for her orders.

"Magaru!"

Upon the lift of her sword, winds howled around the Shadows. Concentrated enough, the gusts struck the eagles with a blast.

But they didn't falter...

"So... Wind doesn't work..." Madoka pondered as she glared at them. 'But Wind is the only element I have. How can I...?'

"Madoka!"

Her eyes were brought up when she heard Luna's voice, and oddly in great alarm. She was alarmed? Why was she...?

_Thwack_!

"Agh...!"

Oh.

With her mind away from the storm of a battle, one Venus Eagle let itself deal a strike with its claws against Madoka. The pain... it only lasted for a moment. What was left of the attack was a mere scratch.

Must have been the dress.

Madoka focused on the Shadows once more, thinking of only the battle she was in. Luna was already occupied with one, and the same went for Rai. Wind, her only element attack, did nothing against them, so how can she...?

The Shadow in front of her was knocked off from a fist thanks to a familiar monkey-like human Persona... Obariyon, she remembered. It delivered a strike onto the eagle's skull, if it had any. It wasn't enough to knock it down, however.

"Strike and Bufu types are the same," Obariyon's owner, Rai, noted. Strike? But from what she discovered, Wind, Electric, Fire, and Ice Skills are elements, right?

Rai returned to the other eagle, just in time to notice it casting a Skill. Bustling winds from the Shadow only nicked him as he narrowly dodged it. While he was once again busy with that Shadow, the other Shadow Madoka was facing earlier only shrugged off Rai's attack, soon meeting Madoka in its sights. There wasn't anyone allowed to stop fighting.

Three Shadows, three Persona users.

If Wind didn't work, then non-elemental Skills had to be the stars. Before the flying Shadow would make its next move, Madoka envisioned the card in front of her again, and called forth her Persona.

"Alpha! Single Shot!"

The warrior in black took her stance and prepared her symbol-imprinted bow. An arrow was soon forged from her mind, and was released from her bow with a sounding tone. The flying projectile soon crashed into the Venus Eagle, the kind of attack that unlike the earlier Skills, it actually sent the Shadow crashing to the ground.

It... did?

"Huh?" She breathed. So Ice and Wind weren't options, but Single Shot knocked it down? It was a physical attack, but Obariyon from earlier didn't have the same results...

Unless...

"Ah... Single Shot on that one!"

Madoka pointed to the Shadow Luna was fighting against, and thus the second arrow ripped through the winds and struck the eagle. It, too, wasn't prepared for the worst and was sent to the ground. Not stopping, Madoka ordered another Single Shot against the other Shadow that was dueling with Rai. The same conclusion went towards that eagle, too. All three Shadows were lying on the ground, wounded from the same attack.

Luna slightly gaped for a moment before smirking. "Pierce attacks, then." She turned to Madoka in satisfication. "Good work, Madoka."

"Pierce attacks..." She whispered. So that was what Single Shot really is. Then if Obariyon's punch from earlier was Strike... then, did this mean that there are different types of physical attacks? It was great that she decided to use Single Shot against all three Shadows, then.

Because they're all down at this point.

"It would be wise to rush in at this point," Rai stated, looking on the sprawled eagles before eying Madoka for an answer. It was a strategy they thought of earlier in the first battle; once they managed to exploit the enemies' weaknesses, they would relentlessly go in and attack all around.

Rushing in throwing her fists and kicking them at once still made her look... silly. Somewhat. Too bad she had no weapon stuck on her.

"Then let's do it," Madoka decided.

With the trio in agreement, the three soon darted forward to the Venus Eagles, forming not only a cloud of blinding dust, but sounds of thwacking and slashing. The blinding dust soon enlarged, engulfing the area.

With all vision restored, the three saw only two Shadows remaining on the field. That was good; if one Venus Eagle was defeated early like this, then it meant they weren't all that powerful and could be finished earlier.

Madoka kept on going along with the twins, being able to regroup. The battle wasn't over just yet.

"Pixie," Luna ordered, "Zio."

Replacing Saki Mitama she held since the beginning of the battle was the same winged Persona Madoka saw earlier. With her magic, a yellow bolt fell down to the second Venus Eagle. Much like Saki Mitama's Bufu and Obariyon's Sonic Punch, nothing seemed to have any change.

"Electric makes no difference as well," Luna spoke. "So perhaps Pierce is only necessary. Avoid using Wind Skills."

Barely wasting any time was the third Venus Eagle casting a Wind attack, drawing forth separate gusts onto the three. The bursts of such force blew Madoka and Rai, but not being able to topple them. Luna, however, only flinched slightly.

Madoka already understood it. The Pixie was able to resist Wind attacks for Luna. It seemed that Personae with abilities that defend people from certain elements were going to be quite useful if this was the case...

"If it's Pierce that we only need..." Rai muffled to himself before drawing a different Persona. "Inugami, Single Shot."

Coming out of Rai was a thin ghost with a solid dog face, a red emblem placed on the Persona's forehead. Corresponding to the order, Inugami let loose a pointed projectile of condensed energy towards the second Venus Eagle. Being a Pierce Skill, a knockdown was what came afterward.

"Single Shot on the next one."

_Pierce!_

All the Shadows were down once again... that meant...

"Um, so should we do it again?" Madoka sheepishly asked the duo.

Luna merely smiled on the decision. "There is no reason to hold the final strike back."

With one more All-Out Attack decided, one more cloud of dust was formed.

It took the shape of a giant skull.

* * *

"So, Madoka, how was your first time in this world?"

A question Luna first asked the moment they got back to the place Madoka first appeared. The battle with the Venus Eagles was more tiring than the rest of the 'normal' Shadows they encountered along the way, and with all the knowledge she tried to wrap around carefully, it was a good idea to rest for the duration of the night.

Madoka, being the newcomer to Personae and Shadows, had to answer. "A little scary, actually. Some of the Shadows were kind of strong... especially the last ones. I think I still feel sore."

"It is a shame you can't be kept here longer," Luna spoke in slight disappointment. "We still needed to discuss some other properties about Persona, too..."

"Huh?" Madoka wondered curiously, tilting her head as she went on. "I can't stay here forever?"

"You will have to wake up soon. Did you forget that you are asleep in reality?"

"Ah..."

Of course. Considering that time passes by faster while she rests in her world, that meant there's little time to spend on in this new world. So... she could only traverse one night at a time?

"Then again," Luna continued on as she gestured, "you lost consciousness instead of sleeping normally. It comes to no surprise that you took a while to appear here."

"...Eh, so..." The pinkette thought on, "if I sleep normally..."

"You can do it on the next night to see what we mean," Rai interjected as he folded his arms.

"Ah, right," she responded in clear understanding. "I am coming back here after all... but I still feel sore..."

"Oh, you still feel weary after the bout with the Venus Eagles," Luna acknowledged. "There's no need to worry. Once you wake up, your mental body will regenerate as long as you stay next to this statue."

The maiden statue she saw earlier? Now that she gave a take at it, it was actually giving off some kind of warm glow. So... it was inactive before?

"You can use the statue here to heal your wounds instantly," Luna explained, "...provided you can pay a fee, of course."

"A fee?" Madoka pondered on the meaning. "So... you mean, like an offering?"

"Well the idea is similar, but yes," the sister answered. "Of course, as Rai said, if you wish to wake up into reality while you need to regenerate, you only need to wish it so. No fee will be neecessary."

"Ah, okay..." The pinkette hummed. The thought of having to pay a fee just to get out of the world was not exactly something to look forward to...

...Wait.

"Um, may I ask what's the purpose of yen?"

"...What?" Rai asked, bewildered. "Do you not buy stuff with yen? Or are you that deluded?"

"I... I know that!" She retorted in a frantic expression. "But, well, what I mean is, is it okay to take money from Shadows?"

"...No one is stopping you from taking any," Luna sighed. "You are free to take it. In fact, even if we needed some, we can just find more Shadows to defeat."

...Well, there wasn't some kind of harsh law of sorts. She supposed it wouldn't really matter.

"At any rate," Rai spoke, "it's best if you decided to retire for this night and wake up. I'm sure you've learned what you needed to so far, yes?"

"Um, of... of course," Madoka answered, her determination and understanding making way as she set her gaze to the blank sky.

...It may have happened for only a short while, but it just went to show how much was she tasked to do. Her purpose as she remembered... to discover the secrets of the Witches, the secret of this world, the hidden connection of both facts as well as Madoka sitting between them...

It was surprising. How all of this happened when she only thought of her normal life. She wondered... if things start to return to normal... when will that happen? In fact, she had a link to these events. What will become of her in the future?

"Madoka."

The girl in question brought her head to face with Luna, who gave a soothing smile.

"You don't have to think hard about this. This is about you, is it not? You must believe in yourself so that you will know that you can't disappear as long as you carry the world with you."

"Luna-san..."

"She has a point."

To Rai, Madoka cast her eyes to the other sibling as he slightly tipped his top hat.

"I once told you that you can't falter too much. That is why you must hold strength within you, of course, not just from battles, but with the many turn of events you will face."

"Rai-san..."

_Flash!_

Madoka had her breath halted for a moment from one shattering moment...

What just...?

_I am thou... and thou art I..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the secrets..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Fool Arcana..._

It was for only a short moment, but she felt a burst of new power deep inside her before coming to form as a warm light...

"Ah..."

Madoka blinked. 'Creating Personae'? 'Fool Arcana'?

"Oh, that's right," Rai spoke up, certainly looking as if he did watch the light show. "We forgot to tell her that she holds the Wild Card."

"...That would be your fault for rushing us," Luna muttered as she glared at her brother.

"...My apologies, then," he then said, looking away. The small shift in his demeanor earned a giggle from the one holding the Wild Card.

"You know, you could learn from us about patience, Rai-san," Madoka teased along.

"This isn't... no, never mind," he sighed in defeat. Even if he didn't exactly mind for these moments, time was still on the loose for Madoka, leaving him to clear his throat for the attention. "A... anyways, it's best if you go on now. We can explain the Wild Card the next night we're here. Time doesn't conveniently stop for you, so you must go."

"Ah, then..." Madoka trailed off before she saw the statue.

The statue... she would have to wake up to see reality again. But then...

"Will I be back?" She audibly whispered.

"You have to be," Luna shrugged. "This place is about you, so you yourself must be the one to find out the cause."

"I see..." Madoka nodded. She moved forward, onward to the reality she fell asleep from once. Not before long, she turned back to the duo. "And... what about you two?"

"We are not exactly assistants in the Velvet Room," Rai answered. "Therefore, we can help you as much as you please. We will be here because we can."

"We will also prepare the gateway later in the day," Luna added shyly. "Um... think of it as an apology for earlier."

"I-it's fine, I'm not very mad," Madoka assured... even though it still would have been nice. At least the clothes looked good on her at best. She then turned back to the maiden statue and stood next to it, in preparation for her travel.

"W-well then... I just have to make a wish..."

"We shall be here once you need us," Luna spoke.

"For now, a good day to you Madoka," Rai said.

"Yes... good-bye, everyone...!"

To uncover secrets... to make sure she can stay alive...

With her Persona Alpha...

Will things go smoothly as she went on, she wondered?

* * *

**Finish!**

**Of course, if I just focus on only the original plot, it'd probably be less favorable. Madoka going "Persona!" every hour just to beat Witches is enough to bore some. Thus, the strange new world.**

**...And it's still nameless. Hm.**

**Madoka will get a weapon in the new world soon, of course. The reason for Luna and Rai using actual weapons instead of pieces of paper like Elizabeth and Margaret? Not entirely attuned to using both the books and cards just yet.**

**Oh yeah, Alpha's status and appearances of other Personae and Shadows. Of course, some Personae appear in both P3/FES and P4, but I'll only use one from one game and only that game, Pixie and Saki Mitama being examples. For all Skills and weaknesses and the like for the ones not marked "Original", check out the wikia.**

* * *

**DA PERSONA**

Persona: Alpha (Original)

Arcana: Fool

Skills & Abilities: Cleave, Single Shot, Magaru, Rakunda

Affinities: Fire Resist, Ice Weakness

* * *

**Appearances**

Obariyon (P4)

Inugami (P3)

Pixie (P4)

Saki Mitama (P4)

Cowardly Maya (P3)

Slipping Hablerie (P4)**  
**

Venus Eagle (P3 Boss type)

* * *

**Now to actually do more instead of doing less.** **Later.**


	4. Chapter 3 - Reaction

**THREE HIT COMBO! I WENT INSANE!**

**...*Cough***

**Uh, anyways, let's have fun with this chapter, shall we? Oh, but Alpha won't be having that much screen time against Witches until later on, no siree. Not much foreshadowing either, except Homura will start to gain clues and whatnot.**

**Prinny Ramza: Kind of a little obvious on what Alpha will turn up as in the last chapters, lol.**

**Megaolix: Whoa, sweet. Thanks.**

**Selias: ...Damn. It's not even a tenth of the story and already I'm making mistakes. Oh well, I'll fix that soon. Thanks.**

**Now then...**

**Mind and Body! Start!**

* * *

"Mm..."

Her eyes, closed as they were, were brought to the life-filled sun's rays. She brought her arms to her face and softly rubbed her eyes on the disturbing light, a little harsh as it was. It was as if the mornings were starting to get less grateful to her. Not that she'd begin to succumb to saying 'Just five more minutes' or the like. If it was morning, then it meant that there was no more time to continue resting in paradise when she drifted away...

...Wait. No, that was...

As her eyes were finally brought open to her room, she realized... she was actually there. With Luna and Rai. Fighting alongside the Shadows while they traversed through the strange world. It wasn't some kind of dreamy paradise, it was actual exploration. And she was unconscious the moment she met Mami and Kyubey...

"...?"

Come to think of it, she was back in her room, wasn't she? But what she saw earlier still wasn't a dream, oh no. If that was, she wouldn't be in her school clothes still. She would always switch to her pajamas before she slept.

Then... was she brought back here when she fell unconscious? Thanks to her friends? Then maybe...

"Not a dream," she already figured, "but then..."

She reached into her pocket, knowing that she still held the key close to her in her clothes, and her hand shuffled around searching for the same object she gained the night before. Another second...

It was still there...

She wondered... just how did she get the key?

...Hopefully she could find out about it soon. Right now, it didn't matter if she didn't know. She had a lot to think about after waking up from earlier. And she needed a fast rinse, knowing that she slept through all day yesterday.

When she got up, thinking of making a mental list of 'to-dos for today', she looked around before she would decide to sweep into the bathroom...

...and caught a familiar face...

"_Good morning, Madoka!_"

* * *

She was only thankful that she woke up sooner than her usual marker, giving her enough time for her body to be drenched. Perhaps sleeping early did that? It was good that she didn't feel anything wrong, either.

While the sound of rushing water released any form of tension inside her, she sat back and mingled in her own thoughts. The Magical Girls and Witches, she first thought...

...It looked cool.

But... what did she know about it? From her perspective, a little blurry as it was thanks to her unintentionally dozing off, Magical Girls were about people fighting Witches for the sake of everyone. At least... that's what it looked like. The blonde, Mami, if she got the name right, was one of them, and she looked powerful. Destroying hundreds of those mustached monsters from her abnormally powered rifles and shotguns that appeared from the sky was... amazing. Scary, too.

"_I see you're thinking hard about this._"

Madoka blinked. That was Kyubey, wasn't it?

...He couldn't be. Was he in the bathroom all thi-

"_I'm speaking with you in telepathy. It was how I communicated with you all before. You don't have to use your voice, either._"

...So he wasn't in the bathroom, but he spoke to her with telepathy like that? Well he did use it to call for help earlier. But... if he read minds and didn't need to use someone's voice to talk...

"_How's... this?_" Madoka hesitantly asked.

"_That's good,_" came his voice. "_That way, if you want some privacy __without interrupting anyone else__, you can concentrate your thoughts and form your voice._"

"_Privacy? __Wow. This is a good power you have, Kyubey._"

"_At any rate, what do you think, Madoka?_"

"...Huh?"

"_Mami has refrained me from doing so until we came to an agreement, but do you want to form a contract with me and be a Magical Girl when we do so?_"

Contract? Well he did say something about a contract just before she drifted away... but forming a contract with him before she would become a Magical Girl?

"_It's, well, __there'__s a whole lot to think about..._" It wasn't exactly a lie. There's still some things she needed to know about before she could get a clear mind...

"_I see, so you are still thinking,_" he responded. "_That is fine. I'll await your final answer when you've decided._"

At least she didn't have to decide right away. There was something else that bugged her though...

"_Um, by the way. Mami... she refrained you from making a contract with me?_"

"_That's correct. She made me promise to her that I would not contract with you until we regrouped. I merely wished to know if you had any interest._"

She... made him promise that he wouldn't contract like that? Why the stop sign? But it didn't matter for now. She still had other things to think about, like yesterday night's traveling in that world...

But first...

"_Kyubey,_" she resounded in her thoughts, "_do you mind if you left me alone for a while? I still need to think... __for now,__ you can __tell Mami__ that I'm awake._"

"_Sure! I'll let her know__._"

With him now having a task, Madoka then focused onto the nights she had. That world filled with Shadows and Personae... what did it have to do with her? So far, she found no answer that related to her, but given that it was only a couple of floors, it made sense that she had a long way to go. Aside from her relation to the strange world, it also had a connection to the recent events, the Magical Girls and the Witches, as the people of the Velvet Room mentioned.

...

Perhaps...

...

...Maybe not. Well, there was a chance that Kyubey or Mami happened to know about Persona. But Kyubey didn't make any mention of Persona or the world, if he didn't know either one, which he still didn't so far. And Mami... it was hard to tell if she knew as well. Had they known, then maybe either one, most likely Kyubey, could talk about the world Madoka traveled in. Sayaka probably didn't know much either.

And... there's still that fortune she had earlier.

The 'oppressor'. The one who was said to manipulate Madoka and bring out misfortune. If that person was still out there... then who was it?

...Well, there was no misfortune for now at least. But it was hard to tell if this was good news that she avoided some misfortune, or that it has yet to come.

There was... also another thing she needed to know about. The 'Wild Card', the term Rai mentioned earlier. From what she knew at best, a wild card can be anything. So what did she have that could hold 'anything'? She was at least getting answers about that later tonight, but...

"_I __have finished__._"

"Ah!"

Madoka jolted on the reappearance of the creature's voice, the sound of splashing the water echoing in the area. Unexpected? Quite so.

"_Kyubey... __you startled me!_"

"_I apologize for that,_" he spoke to her head, "_but I wanted you to know that Mami was pleased that you are doing well._"

"_Oh... oka... wait, how did you-_"

"_I can make my way through this world with my abilities __should I want it so__.__"_

It seemed as there was a lot more to Kyubey than what Madoka thought. It's not that coincidental if he's with Magical Girls, though...

"_By the way, do you plan to leave the water running?_"

"_Oh, no, I was just..._"

...

Wait.

"..._How do you know that the water's still running?_"

"_I'm over here, behind the glass pane._"

...

So much for privacy.

* * *

It was... a little difficult.

Difficult to hide suspicions from her mother. Making up an excuse was just as bad as... well, anything that could topple over completely from one movement at any given moment. It was only by mere luck that she decided not to pry further. And the only fact that helped Madoka was that Kyubey can cloak himself from others, hiding his form towards her mother.

Keeping secrets was never easy.

Madoka did wonder though... what did she miss when she was asleep? All she remembered recently before losing consciousness was Kyubey talking about a contract. She still needed to know some other things about Magical Girls and Witches...

With her preparations all set, and after bidding farewell to her relatives, she set off for school.

As she tread upon the path, the usual routine under the daylight, she went back to her thoughts, the earlier moment with Kyubey being brushed off for now. There were still some things she wasn't exactly clear about. Aside from what she recalled during the morning, there was also the conversation with Igor. One term that stood out from everything else she remembered was Social Links.

Spending time with relatives...

So she had to get close to her friends in order to get stronger? Indeed, Alpha alone wasn't enough to protect her during that time, but if she needed to be able to protect herself from anything...

" '_Social Links'? 'Alpha'?_"

Oh, she wasn't alone. Sitting on her left shoulder was Kyubey, completely acting 'normal' as if no one really cared that the world lost its sanity. Though then again that's because of his powers that no one noticed...

He gazed at Madoka with curiosity on the terms she mentioned.

"Kyubey," she whispered, "it isn't nice to listen in to someone's self-conversation."

"_You never told me to stop at times, but now I'm interested in what you were just thinking._"

"W-well..."

Did she have to tell him? But if her problems were related to those Witches, then maybe...

"Ah..."

Knocking the topic off before she would say anymore were Sayaka and Hitomi, walking on their same road. It seemed that despite the earlier problem, she wasn't all that late.

"Good morning!"

"Wah!"

Just from the easygoing shout as if nothing ever happened made Sayaka nearly tumble off and slowly turn around. Who she saw was the same girl that drifted away from reality, only that she was back up with energy. Not just her, Kyubey hanged onto the pinkette's shoulder, acting completely 'normal'.

What Sayaka did was balance her footing, and then she paced towards Madoka in shock and confusion. The next thing, she angled her sights around the short girl, her narrowed eyes making Madoka somewhat uneasy.

"Hm..." Sayaka hummed in suspicion before she finally faced Madoka's front. "Hey, are you sure you're Madoka?"

"Wha... I am Madoka!" She truthfully claimed.

"But I thought you felt sick or something since yesterday," the blue-haired girl pressed on. "How can I tell that it's you?" She then asked, her lips forming...

...Oh, she was playing around again.

"Well I know we had a... weird transfer student yesterday," Madoka started to answer, not wanting to get dragged into a silly mess. "We even decided to look into a CD store for your friend..."

"Eh. Ah..."

No sooner did Sayaka stumble back once the tables were turned against her when she realized what they were doing yesterday. After everything that happened, it would just make sense that she should at least stay home, but how did she forget about _that_?

"Oh?" Hitomi came in as she turned to the shaken Sayaka. "How did that go?"

"Not... too well," Sayaka muttered in disappointment. "We couldn't find anything good," _thanks to the crazy stuff,_ "especially with Madoka falling asleep from out of nowhere..."

"It just happened," Madoka spoke, removing some of the blame.

"Yeah, well, you _are _Madoka, right?" Sayaka pressed on again. "Not some kind of clone just to make us feel better after what happened to you?"

"Honest! Why are you thinking that I'm not Madoka?"

"Well... aside from yesterday, you just look... different?"

"...Huh?"

"...You don't have your ribbons."

...

A shuffling of her left hand on her head, a shuffling of her right...

And then...

"...My... my ribbons..."

* * *

After watching the most distraught girl of the day fret about her style being shelved in the dark, Madoka herself regained her composure. Rather quickly, too, though it's because she did find herself in _that _world without ribbons earlier. Along with the rest of her clothes, but there wasn't any need to tell them _that_. So there was no reason to mope for a prolonged time just because she forgot her accessories.

But she did like her ribbons, though...

The three soon continued their way through, with Hitomi already being told that Madoka did feel a little sick earlier to Sayaka mentioning how no one can see Kyubey. While they weren't going on to tell Hitomi about Kyubey since she wasn't chosen of the sort and act as if things are fine, things escalated a little with Madoka having fun with Kyubey's mind-reading abilities. The green-haired girl then made her words about how Madoka and Sayaka are starting to get too close when she thought they were able to communicate and understand each other with just their eyes.

Girls can't love girls, Hitomi tried to imprint onto herself. Truly, it was forbidden love.

...

...She forgot her bag after that.

Before class would start with Hitomi calming down, Sayaka had given some thought about Homura still going to kill Kyubey. The white animal assured them that Mami was also in the vicinity, and could communicate by mind reading as well. Not only that, even Homura wouldn't go far to unload her attacks in school grounds.

"_That reminds me,_" Mami thought out, "_it would be a good idea if you came with me after school, now that you two are involved._"

"_Involved?_" Madoka repeated. "_You mean about yesterday?_"

"_That's right. Kyubey has chosen you both, after all._"

It was an opportunity, actually. She could probably find out more about the Magical Girls and Witches if she went along. Maybe even find at least one connection about her along the way? That's what she hoped at best. But first, she had other things to worry about, such as Homura, and school.

Mostly the mysterious raven-haired assaulter. Especially when she entered the same classroom and stared at Madoka for a moment.

Even more so when she looked... curious for only a second.

* * *

"Hey, Madoka..."

Right under the blue and white sky were Madoka and Sayaka, as well as Kyubey, having their own treats on the quiet rooftop during lunch break. As Kyubey was given the last few bites, Sayaka had remembered something important from yesterday.

Yes, that time when they were surrounded...

"About yesterday," Sayaka started, "did you ever bring out that girl again, after that time?"

"Girl?" Madoka idly repeated before it clicked on her. "...Ah, well... I don't know."

It's not that she wasn't wrong. She did remember clearly about what happened and how to summon her Persona, but she never gave thought about summoning her in the real world. The only time Alpha was brought forth aside from that strange world was back in... that time, but could she still summon it again?

"But you actually got her out when we needed to be saved that time, right?" The blue-haired girl asked. "I think... when you crushed that card?"

"_What are you two talking about?_"

Joining in the conversation without hesitation was the white animal, looking at the duo. It was hard to tell if he had the look of curiosity. He probably couldn't make expressions in that body of his.

"Ah, right," Sayaka spoke as she remembered. "You were kinda hurt at the time, weren't you?"

"_I lost consciousness at the moment,_" he answered in agreement, "_so I was vaguely aware of what was happening. Enough about me, however. What is this about Madoka bringing out the girl you're talking about?_"

"W-well..." Madoka fumbled around the words at first. She didn't really mind about telling them, knowing that they were part of the crazy time that happened yesterday. In fact, Kyubey didn't seem knowledgeable about Personae, if he was right that he didn't know the term Social Link, so maybe he didn't know about the other world?

...Maybe just an explanation wouldn't hurt.

"I do remember about last night, when we were attacked," the pinkette started. "A lot of those things were around us. I... well, we wanted to be saved. I didn't want any of us to die there."

"And... then that card appeared?" Sayaka muttered, trying to put the pieces together.

"I heard a voice," Madoka continued as she racked her thoughts. "She... I think she said 'overcome this ordeal', and 'awaken your Persona'..."

" 'Persona'?" Sayaka repeated the name. "And you did say that word twice when we were attacked..."

"_Interesting,_" Kyubey spoke up, managing to form up a theory. "_So you're saying you __always __h__e__ld some power on your own?_"

"A-actually, well..."

She flustered for a moment before sighing in silence. This wasn't really her power, was it? She never _ever _saw herself holding the power of Persona and attacking anything threatening before yesterday. So how did she...?

Her ears perked up, noticing the ringing sounds of footsteps closer and closer. One look ahead of her, and it was one look that was set in stone, for the person heading their way was none other than Akemi Homura. Expressionless and unwavering, she continued to move forward to the three as Sayaka got closer to the group, hoping under her breath that nothing bad would happen under the daylight.

"_It's all right._"

A resounding voice from Mami startled the both of them, as she stood inside part of the school's tower, holding her strange, glowing artifact. Homura only darted her eyes to the blond girl, but only stopping in her tracks just in front of the three.

Perhaps there would be nothing violent for the moment.

"Picking up where you left off?" Sayaka said in slight aggressiveness.

"No," Homura answered. "I have no such intention. I had hoped to kill it before it made contact with Kaname Madoka, but it is too late for that now..."

Then... was it good that Madoka saved Kyubey? But there was still something she wasn't getting. She wasn't sure what it was, though...

"So what will you do?" Homura asked. "Will you become a Magical Girl as well?"

There it was... that question was still alien to Madoka. She still didn't understand the whole concept of Magical Girls and Witches. Maybe now wasn't a bad time to ask about it, she thought.

"...I want to know," she spoke, her tone of curiosity mix with insight. "Just what are Magical Girls? And what do they do?"

"Ah..."

No. She dared not to flinch, not from something like that. It would only justify just how weak she was if she dropped her silent stature, and that's why she had to keep her grip firm and great, even at the worst moments.

But for Homura to just hear that Madoka still wasn't informed...

...Something was wrong, she thought.

"...Didn't Kyubey or that girl inform you?" She questioned.

"We barely got the chance to figure out what's going on," Sayaka answered back. "Madoka fainted once you left, after all!"

"...What?"

...Something _was _wrong. The strange girl's eyes widened, but barely, just to not give anything away after hearing the news. Why would Madoka... suddenly lose consciousness after what happened yesterday? Madoka should have been still awake and carry knowledge about the face of the information, but...

"Anyways, why are you asking us these questions?" The blue-haired spoke, already losing taste of the recent transfer student's attitude. "_We're _the ones who should be asking you about what's happening!"

"I have no reason to tell you. And figure the events out on your own."

Off-putting, she was, no matter how one would try to reason if either side wanted to. Before Homura would finish her part and take her leave, however...

"Kaname Madoka."

"...Huh?"

"Do you remember what I said yesterday?"

"...Yes."

"Good. Then I'll pray that my warning will not have been in vain."

And so, Akemi Homura began to leave the premises.

_Flash!_

Another shattering moment... wait, was this...?

_I am thou... and thou art I..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the secrets..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Priestess Arcana..._

And another burst of power that became a soothing warmth...

But...

"Priestess Arcana?"

A mental slap came to herself when she realized she blurted it out, especially with Homura not that far from the area. The words 'Priestess Arcana' not only went to Sayaka and leave her in confusion, but they put a stop to the raven-haired girl from leaving, and made her turn around to face Madoka in hidden curiosity.

"Priestess..." Homura muttered.

"...Arcana?" Sayaka finished.

...

...

"I-I just remembered I had to go somewhere!"

And instead of the silent Akemi Homura, who was quite lost in the outcome, who would reach the stairs of the rooftop first, it was instead a panicking Kaname Madoka who tried to make sure she'd run off and not tell her answers soon. She was then followed by a Miki Sayaka, wondering just what went on in Madoka, and so she left the area before Homura would.

...

Yes. This day was off. Homura already knew. She needed not a second or third reminder.

"Priestess Arcana..."

* * *

Madoka calmed down afterward. She then tried to dust off the 'Priestess Arcana' as nothing important.

It worked for now. But it would be really nice if she knew what that meant.

Time has passed, time has come. At the start, it was just only the two having 'errands', but Hitomi again misunderstood the kind of relationship between Madoka and Sayaka and ran off on her own once more.

...

...At least she didn't leave her bag.

With Madoka, Sayaka, Kyubey, and Mami making preparations in the restaurant, the blonde then made a quick explanation about what they needed to know so far. Magical Girls are people who accepted a contract with Kyubey to fight against devastating Witches to protect everyone. This didn't seem to faze Madoka at much, what with her dealing with her own battles back in that world, but _they _hadn't known yet. Meanwhile, Witches are curses born from negative emotions of humans and take form. The next information, a contract with Kyubey would mean making a wish, any wish, in order to abide by the contract and gain power. The last part of the discussion was the Soul Gem, an artifact that gives the holder powers, as well as being proof of the contract.

In short: no, Magical Girls did not have an 'I am thou' business.

But for Madoka, it was still too early to decide on saying that there was no connection to the other world when everyone else claim there is. In fact, when she reviewed over Witches being born from negative emotions, there was the fact that Shadows are also created from said emotions.

Maybe... when Witches are defeated... Shadows are born? Or was it the other way around? Or... same time?

...So confusing.

With that out of the way, Mami decided to take the two on hunting for Witches should the group decide to become Magical Girls. Following that was Sayaka making her big declaration about defending herself and Madoka if it came down to it, and made her allegiance to the weapon she brought forth to uphold her promise.

A baseball bat.

...At least she could defend herself.

"How about y-... oh, wait, I think I know who you're bringing along," Sayaka gestured to Madoka, excited about the young woman in black to make her appearance.

"Oh? Kaname-san brought something as well?" Mami asked on, curious about what a little girl took to go during Witch hunting.

"It's not _something _as it is _someone,_" Sayaka corrected, her grin still in place.

"_I'm interested as well,_" came the white animal's voice. "_I have yet to see what Madoka's power holds._"

"I hope I can do it again, actually," Madoka sheepishly spoke.

Their statements had... confused the blonde for a while. 'Someone'? 'Madoka's power'? 'Do it _again_'?

...Mami probably wouldn't be needing to watch over them all the time, she supposed.

Starting off their hunt, the group made their way on searching for the location of the Witch, with the Soul Gem acting like a radar on tracking it down. Along the way, the pink and blue thought about why Mami didn't chase the Witch down. She could have done it and won, she said, but the two were still involved in this mess, especially with Madoka falling asleep right at the end of it.

...Madoka idly wondered if summoning Alpha for the first time did that.

Meanwhile, Sayaka did make mention about the transfer student, how she 'pissed her off' about how Homura handled her actions.

...

It was about today, earlier, when Madoka was told about being blessed by the Priestess Arcana when Madoka said she remembered about the warning. What did that mean? And it wasn't just that, Rai said that Madoka held a Wild Card, just after she found herself being blessed by the Fool Arcana.

Were these... the meaning of Social Links? Spending time with someone? And the voices spoke about their bonds...

Hopefully the twins could explain it to her clearly, especially the Wild Card.

After a tiring journey through the roads where Mami usually suspects that Witches could be found around accidents, the Soul Gem started to pick up readings of magic. Closer and closer and closer, the reading became more apparent.

That was when Mami saved a person from their demise.

Once the woman's fall was prevented thanks to strings of magic from Mami, a mark on her neck revealed the signature of a Witch's appearance. A Witch's Mark, an imprint to a human that can leave them to suicide.

The Witch was just further on...

* * *

...And further in, they already found themselves fighting against a horde of enemies. The road ahead, the road behind, everywhere was occupied by an odd-looking enemy from the Witch. They didn't seem to take any visitor kindly.

"They're in the way," Mami murmured, eying the mustached familiars on the front carefully. "If we can't drive them out quickly..."

More enemies, and so more battles...

"Wait," Madoka spoke up as she stepped forward. "I think I can handle this one."

"Kaname-san?" The blonde pondered on what she was planning.

"Don't worry," Sayaka assured, preparing for the grand appearance. "I think she's got this one."

And so the card of the Fool appeared before her, and her hand reached out to it.

"Persona!"

With the card of Alpha crushed, the Persona in black materialized in front of her, awaiting her master's orders.

Unsurprisingly, Mami widened her eyes in grasping the thought of a person being brought forth from a card of a little girl. Did she actually accept a contract with Kyubey? But Madoka never mentioned that she became one... and she certainly didn't look like one with her school uniform still on. Kyubey probably wouldn't break his promise either. There was no way she actually made a contract, but how...?

No. That girl in black Madoka brought out... she saw her somewhere before... could she be?

To the orders, Madoka only needed to point to the group of enemies ahead.

"Magaru!"

And so, with Madoka's mentality energy, Alpha called forth fierce winds to go against the mustached monsters, blasting them away like dust. Those that landed on a floor only became black ash to nothingness.

Alpha retreated to her master's heart, awaiting for her next call.

"_I see,_" Kyubey watched on, "_so that's the power of Persona..._"

"Looks like she had it in her after all," Sayaka said in satisfication.

Mami, still in awe of the spectacle that happened, couldn't form any words on how it happened. Powers that weren't born from a contract with Kyubey? Only unexpected, but knowing that Magical Girls and Witches had existed for a while, it probably shouldn't be anything new...

"W-we should get moving," Madoka spoke up, not wanting to be the focus of attention just because of her Persona.

Indeed, they still had a task to finish for today. With the group's thoughts in unison, they moved forward.

* * *

"We're acquaintances of Madoka."

Rai spoke as he held one end of a wide pink box while Luna held the other in front of a large house that looked suspiciously similar to Madoka's. The orange glow of dusk was already settled in the area.

"Oh, are you?" The purple haired woman articulated as she stood near the door.

...It was Madoka's house.

"As her friends," Luna spoke in delight, "we wanted to give this to her in case she needed room for something. It's a present for her."

"I suppose I wouldn't mind that," Junko agreed. "Though maybe you'll have to forgive my daughter for having such a cluttered room. But come on in! I'm sure once she gets back, she'll be pleased to see you, though I hope she gets back early..."

As the twins went inside for the pleasuring company, Rai made a note to himself for the victory of their continued efforts.

"We _finally _found her house..."

* * *

Was life meant to give up on such limits?

People are pushed to the very extremes just to live through many situations, but most of the time, they lose their footing. They trip over even the smallest obstacle, and then they realize they can no longer work their body anymore. Their corpses would be their flags of where they rested eternally in death.

But Tomoe Mami held her confidence.

Madoka and Sayaka stayed back, for she felt confident that she could last against the Witch.

Even when tides are turned, a solution to anything can be made. A solution to preserve their lives _must _be made. Life is short, but only if they desire so. These moments were not meant for their final step, but if one chose to push on forward, drop all doubt, and continue to fight...

Streams of pure light sprouted from the open ground, cutting through everything that was living a false life and entangled the lowly servants of destruction. Before the Witch Gertrud could snap away the life that attacked it, the streaming vines soon constricted the creature. The chance to attack allowed Mami to free herself without harm.

With her scarf being made into a weapon of destruction, aim was taken at a large abomination.

Tiro Finale was called upon.

* * *

Akemi Homura held... annoyance on how this turned out.

She knew that there was something wrong yesterday, but she made the fatal mistake of not paying attention to the slightest detail earlier. Gertrud's first attack was made and planned like so, but the oddity that it would hold a difference was very slim. And a mistake it was, for it was only now when she realized that Tomoe Mami was still close from the spot she started on was that even the slimmest outcomes can be troubling.

It was the increase of the number of enemies either side had to defeat. And it meant slow progress, to the point that maybe there wouldn't be enough time to save Madoka and Sayaka from the Witch's familiars.

And yet it was only a miracle that Mami made it.

A miracle that _shouldn't _have happened.

Everything happened in a blur, and they couldn't have been alive in over a minute after the start of the Witch's barrier. Yes, a minute, for battles were quick if the important ones are on the line. There was no way for Madoka and Sayaka to live through in over a minute.

And they lived.

It didn't stop there. Madoka losing consciousness after that time, to her not being informed about at least some rules of Magical Girls and Witches, to abruptly saying 'Priestess Arcana' only gave Homura more information that this was not proceeding as she planned. Even a slight part about Madoka forgetting her ribbons was enough to say so.

And from the mistake mentioned earlier? She only saw it in this bout with her run in the barrier.

There were secrets. Secrets that were being withheld from her.

And there were unknown facts. Facts that she needed to figure out.

And so it came down to the remaining use of the Gried Seed given to her by Mami. It would only be pride and planning that could stop her then and there, but from the unexpected factors presented to her, and her earlier mistake that cost her more than she should have...

...

But she didn't willingly take the Grief Seed without leaving a message.

"One day, everyone..."

* * *

It was the joy and relief of watching someone saved that people can find themselves smiling. The desire to protect people and watch them live on... it was such a pleasant thought that came to ring Madoka's thoughts of her power.

She summoned her again.

Alpha handled more than enough against the enemies, with the butterfly things being weak to Pierce, as well as the mustached monsters not liking... Slice? Slash? But it wasn't just her physical prowess, even her Magaru Skill was effective against them.

When all was well and said and done, the group began to head their way home, the woman from before doing the same in her path. Dusk was still on the horizon, almost setting to the nightly hours. Unlike her time in that world, Madoka felt that things were slightly more hectic in the barrier of the Witch.

"Kaname-san."

Madoka brought her head up to the blonde as they continued to walk on the road. Mami had a stare that asked for an answer.

"About earlier... how you made that card appear and brought out that girl..."

"Come to think of it," Sayaka pondered along as well, "you never really had that power until yesterday, right?"

The focus of the moment was once again centered on the pink-haired girl, the spotlight not moving around anymore. It was once more that she would have to offer what she knew. But they did need an explanation, so maybe...

"Well, all I know was that I got this yesterday," she spoke to bring light with her answer. "My Persona, Alpha... it's like I know about her. Her attacks, her strengths..."

"_Yesterday..._" Kyubey mumbled in his thoughts. "_You passed out yesterday. Did you summon your Persona before that?_"

"And that was my first time, too," Madoka said, trying to connect the dots.

"Well if you summoned your Persona, Alpha, for the first time," Mami interjected, "then it might make sense on why you lost consciousness."

"Hm, but it doesn't really explain how you got it," Sayaka hummed along. "I don't know if I'm right, but maybe you are a Magical Girl? Just... something different?"

"But I never really formed a contract with Kyubey," the pinkette thought loudly...

...and stopped there.

"...I never... formed a contract with him?"

That was weird. Why did it sound... off?

"_Is there something wrong, Madoka?_" Kyubey asked, tilting his head.

"N-no, just that it sounded weird," Madoka hastily answered back before returning to the topic. "But if I never contracted with Kyubey, then I'm not a Magical Girl... so I can't say that my powers were from him..."

Well, there's the contract with the Velvet Room, but those were about their services, not about her powers of Persona...

"You're not really making this easy for us, Madoka," Sayaka sighed. "So, what, you aren't a Magical Girl, but some kind of a chosen one?"

" _'A chosen one'?_" Kyubey repeated. "_What is that?_"

" 'A chosen one'..." Mami pondered on as she watched the setting sun. "Maybe... maybe Madoka is different from all of this?"

"I don't really know..." Madoka sagged on the grand confusion. So many secrets for her to know, and yet they were placed so far away...

At best for the discussion of her powers, it was considered that maybe Madoka was some kind of chosen one, but no matter what angle they tried to read on, it didn't explain her powers. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to be taxing as it was last time, most likely from first usage that she was now used to it.

Dropping the topic about Persona was the decision on becoming Magical Girls. The group figured that Madoka probably understood some importance of battles despite being 'awakened' recently, so she had no problem if she decided to form a contract with Kyubey. Sayaka wouldn't need any help either if she decided to become one, finding the fights with the Witches not all bad.

There was just one problem: their wishes.

The two were left out in the dark for a while, so it made sense that they were still deciding, but Madoka was so wrapped up in her Persona business that she never gave a thought about what wish she needed to make. Sayaka, wanting to understand what happened yesterday, also ignored the 'wish' part for a while.

It seemed that the final decision would take some time.

And that was when a second Witch hunt was talked about.

* * *

Back at home, exhausted. She began deciding that sleeping early would give the chance to see Luna and Rai again in that world. She needed to ask about Social Links and the Wild Card, and a bunch of other questions that roamed in her mind.

Except the thought of sleeping early was knocked off when she saw two familiar faces in her house, sitting next to a table enjoying cups of tea.

"I didn't think you'd make a lot of new friends this fast, Madoka," her mother mused as she watched the twins in blue greeting Madoka.

* * *

**Finish!**

**Now this was... surprising for me. Because I rarely make a new chapter in the span of a few days. But I still had some motivation left, so... hah.**

**Yes, now it's time for me to figure out what Arcana will work with who. UP UP AND AWAY~**

**Oh yeah, expect a lot of me teasing Homura with the worst enemy that is plot twist, and this time, they're my plot twists. For her at the least.**

**Now to blow up the moon and have ice cream while I'm at it.**


	5. Chapter 4 - Resound

**More unexpected delays, more unexpected boredom, more unexpected Fate, anything that could happen to one person! Though Fate's to blame the most. Yeah.**

**Anyways, a prelude to and the main action of the second night in the strange world. More Personae!**

**Oh and review responses.**

**Megaolix: ...You're a genius about the Tarot, you know that? Though maybe it was obvious to everyone yet oblivious to me. Anyways, Oriko, Kirika, and Yuma are totally in, just as planned. In fact, it was hinted at the beginning of the story, though maybe I didn't make it too clear. As for how many times Homura gets plot-slapped, well, who knows?**

**Korraganitar the NightShadow: Elizabeth's busy rescuing some blue-haired hero from a seal in case you forgot.**

**Hydrocity3: Homura probably won't know too soon. Then again it all depends on whether or not I feel like it.**

**Y-ko: ...It's a shame the Megami Tensei wiki doesn't really dive into the meanings. Oh well, I'll get to fix it when I can. Thanks.**

**Now then...**

**Soul and Psyche! Start!**

* * *

"How did you find out where I live?"

With today's events over, Madoka had already headed home to find her Velvet Room partners sipping tea, seemingly carefree of anything out of the ordinary. She did recall that the twins had said they were not aware of her house's location, which is what stunned Madoka on their success. As Madoka had placed her bag next to a seat she took with Kyubey, who seemed exhausted as he slept on her schoolbag, the twins' puzzled expressions switched to somewhat victorious (and slightly shyly) grins for the question, while her mother prepared some dinner, letting herself hear the conversation unfold between the three.

"True, it would not be possible for us to find your home," Luna obliged for Madoka. "But it just so happened to be the strings of Fate that we were able to do so, thanks to a friend of yours."

"A friend?" Madoka became clouded in their explanation. "Who?"

"Hm, well..." Luna raised a finger to her cheek. "We were not able to know her name. She did have a verdant hair color, her eyes being of emerald as well..."

Verdant hair color, emerald eyes... "Hitomi-chan?" Madoka guessed easily. So when she was away, Hitomi was the one who told them where Madoka lived?

"We do not know if Hitomi was her name," Rai shrugged, "but if that name belongs to the green-haired girl, then yes."

"Shizuki Hitomi," Madoka clarified for the two. "And... I guess that explains on why y..." she articulated before halting for a moment. "...Wait, how did you even know that we're friends?"

...

The twins soon stared at each other, their minds scrambling for an appropriate answer to the pink-haired girl in front of them, leaving Madoka to wonder what the two where thinking. Some seconds passed, and it seemed that they really were having a hard time to figure out how to tell her. But why? The meeting her friend... wasn't that odd, was it?

"...Um," Madoka reminded the two, removing the siblings from their trance.

"...Hm, she muttered your name a little loudly," Luna confessed, sheepishly, "and we had to believe that she was talking about you..."

"...Did something happen?" The pinkette decided to poke on the subject, finally knowing that there was something strange. "You two are... acting weird..."

"She... well..." Rai tried to form words on how they encountered her earlier.

* * *

_Dusk has already started to settle in, but the blue moon has not made an appearance, so the town Mitakihara has yet to bathe in the soft wonders of moonlight. While the people of the road had their business to attend to, one girl sulked silently while moving along._

"_It's not possible", a green-haired girl muttered to herself as she walked through the roads glowing in the sunset. "It's just Madoka and Sayaka having errands... right? But... but those other times... they looked close. They... no. There's no way that Madoka and Sayaka could be... that close..."_

"_...Ah, excuse us."_

_The girl brought her head up to see, in front of her, two kids holding a... rather large box, with the twins holding it on both ends. The girl had a pointed hat while the boy was with a top hat. Both were in mostly-stylish blue clothing. They seemed pleased about something with the sulking girl._

"_Oh, what is it?" The green-haired girl asked in response._

"_We have been looking around for Madoka for a while," the boy of the twins responded. "Have you, by any chance seen her today, or know where she lives?"_

"_Ah, new friends of Madoka?" The schoolgirl understood. "Well... I guess I can help you. She lives in a big house, unlike most houses around. Here, I'll even write it down for you to remember."_

_With a sticky note and a pen taken out for their convenience, the green-haired girl began making a record for the twins. The girl then placed the note on the box, knowing that they had their hands full._

"_Will this do?" She inquired._

"_It will be of use, thank you," the girl of the twins spoke with a nod._

"_Oh, if I may ask," the schoolgirl wondered, "what's the box for?"_

"_It is our present for Madoka," the girl in blue answered. "This box was fabled to be an artifact of days old, where a woman was trapped somewhere in the world, so she used a box like this to place her presents in and locked it to carry the objects magically to the other box on her lover's side. This was a wonderful antique used to remind him that she still waited for him and... um, are you well?"_

"_An object about soul mates..." the green-haired girl muttered as she began to tremble. "For Madoka to be even close to people I don't know of, and they're siblings... and if Sayaka gets the same box... but... no, I can't accept it!"_

_And so she ran off, spouting something about how Madoka is in 'forbidden love' with even new people, leaving the siblings in synchronized confusion._

* * *

"At least she did not drop her bag when she panicked," Luna finished the memory. "It would have caused a problem for us to try to find her and return it."

"I... think I'm more worried about the image you painted on me than Hitomi-chan's bag..." Madoka sighed. Somehow, maybe if they didn't offer that explanation to Hitomi, the misunderstanding wouldn't be more severe than it already is.

"I am certain that it won't be a problem," Rai convinced without any trouble. "Especially since there are other things to worry about."

That reminded her. The questions she had to ask, the ones pertaining to Personae... oh, but with her mother still here, it could be somewhat problematic on the explanation of Madoka going out in her dreams killing Shadows while being put in danger.

"We can worry about those later," Madoka shifted the topic around. "In fact, I'm a little hungry after walking around today."

"Ah, yes," Luna articulated, knowing their position in the time and place. "I suppose they can wait."

And though the night with the twins began in earnest, it all started in reality.

* * *

Dinnertime was certainly an interesting hour. When Kaname Junko asked about the number of friends Madoka just made recently, it lead her to round up to the number four. The twins, Mami, and Kyubey, who Madoka claimed was a strange friend. It was still hard to consider Homura a friend, her actions still remembered, but Madoka hoped there was something she could do for her when the time came. Despite her, however, four seemed like an impressive feat, with her father Kaname Tomohisa noting on how Madoka's outgoing and benevolent personality became the torch of attention for her new friends.

Well, that was part of the truth...

When asked about how Madoka met the twins, she said she found herself in the Velvet Room, meeting other people, Igor and Margaret, who also resided in the room, and they talked about fortune telling and the mysteries ahead of her. She didn't exactly say that the Velvet Room took place in between dream and reality, and everything surreal about it and such, hoping that she wouldn't cause a problem. When the fortune telling was said, her answer about what fortune she gained?

"It was so odd that I don't really know what it was supposed to mean."

Not entirely a lie, though, since she knew nothing about the person that was said to be the reversed Magician, the person who was said to center misfortune around her.

Thankfully, when the twins were asked about it, they merely shrugged it off by saying that the future can waver now that Madoka knew.

She hoped that was the truth.

* * *

"Eh?" Madoka wondered as she entered her room. "Is this the box you were talking about?"

While Rai stayed behind to entertain with the family, Luna took the opportunity to explain anything Madoka wanted to know. What the pink-haired schoolgirl was talking about was the strange box that sat next to one of her shelves. It was pink, just like most of her room, but it seemed a little out of place. Could this be the 'present' they were talking about?

"It is the gateway for physical objects to transfer from this world to the other," Luna answered as she lifted up the cover. "If you place items in here and lock the chest up, you will find them in the other world, just the way they were when you last saw them."

"So then," Madoka began linking the thoughts, "that gateway thing you mentioned yesterday..."

"It's finished," Luna spoke, smiling.

"I'm surprised, Luna-san," the pink girl said, watching the special box. "This looks... heavy to carry. And you two managed to bring it here."

"It was not a problem for us, Madoka. At any rate, we apologize that it took long."

"I already said that it's nothing wrong," Madoka assured. At least that's one problem down, and that was modesty.

"Oh, and by the way, there is no need to worry about clothes in that world," the girl in blue added.

"Eh? Why's that?"

"The statue already recorded the memory of you in that world, including what you wore. Once you return to that place, you will be in that blue dress still."

That was... a shame. Well, not that it mattered anymore. The blue dress was a one-up for providing defense against enemy attacks though, so it wasn't so bad.

But maybe there was another use for herself, she thought.

"By the way," Madoka spoke, "how do I lock the box? I need a key for it, right?"

"The Velvet Key you possess will suffice," Luna answered. "It has another purpose about it as well, but you will discover it sometime soon."

"The Velvet Key..."

It's still with her. The mysterious key she noticed since the first time in the Velvet Room, and when it was there during the morning...

"Now that this is taken care of," Luna left the topic, moving on to important matters, "I can assume there is information you want?"

The timing was well. It was a good time as any.

The holder of the Wild Card soon helped herself onto giving the questions to the resident of the Velvet Room. What Madoka asked first were Social Links and wondered if it had something to do with her friends, having Luna explain that yes, they are bonds that give power to Persona Fusion. Strengthening them to unbreakable bonds will even bestow ultimate Personae of their respective Arcana, while weakening them puts them in a Reverse state. Madoka then wondered if Akemi Homura's Social Link was already in a Reverse state thanks to her attitude, but Luna then provided the information of the Priestess Arcana.

Hidden knowledge, untapped power, wisdom, female mystery...

What this meant was that Homura was hiding some information, and she could have been cold and brash to everyone just to make sure she covered it well, so it didn't entirely mean the Priestess Arcana was in Reverse.

That meant there were no mistakes for now.

The next question was about the Wild Card, the words Rai said the night before. The Wild Card allowed the user to hold and switch between multiple Personae, something that looked like what the twins had in their first exploration. Madoka for now only had Alpha on her side, but she was told that she needed Persona Fusion and a line of cards to gain new Personae.

The last question. How she gained her Persona powers.

She was thinking about that during the day, especially when Mami wondered when and how the pink-haired girl gained them. Luna's only answer was that Philemon met her and granted her the power of Persona, as well as the Wild Card. Of course, the holder of the Wild Card didn't really know who this 'Philemon' was, only to be told that he recently started to keep most of his identity a secret.

Yeah, he was that strange.

"It will be difficult to hold all the principles of Persona," Luna began to finish, "but you will understand it all in due time."

"It really is a little hard," Madoka sagged. "Why is the concept of Persona complicated?"

"That is how the world always worked. Divinities, spirits, magic, they can be just as complicated as what we now have: science and technology."

That... wasn't saying much, even if it was a comparison. But if it modern equipment was simpler to understand now, maybe she wouldn't have trouble with Persona?

"Ah, another question," Madoka spoke up as she remembered something from their discussion. "You mentioned Persona Fusion a few times."

"It's as it says," Luna answered with a nod. "You fuse Personae with the gained Arcana. But we'll get to that when we get there."

Back in that strange world. If she remembered well, she only needed to sleep, right?

"Do I only need to sleep to get there?"

"Of course. Your consciousness will be sent there no matter what."

...

"...Madoka?"

"Sorry. It's just, well..."

It sounded a little silly...

* * *

"Your company was a pleasure, everyone," Rai spoke to the Wild Card's family under the rising moon. Nighttime began to overtake Mitakihara.

"That's what I should be saying," Junko commented with a proud smirk. "After all, it's thanks to you that I can't wait to see the best future for my job!"

"U-um, Mama," Madoka sheepishly said to her excited mother with a worrying smile, "you're... starting to act scary..." So Rai gave her a fortune too when Luna and Madoka were gone? Whatever it was, it seemed to be good news if she was that thrilled...

"Not to worry," Luna soothingly beamed. "If your mother is in high spirits, then there is no need for you to think too much."

"Assuming she doesn't get out of hand," Rai dryly joked before normalizing his tone for his departure. "At any rate, we shall see you whenever you so desire, Madoka."

"And we shall assist you whenever you so desire, our beloved guest," Luna parroted in her own way.

"Of course!" The Wild Card responded in joy. "I'll see you two soon!"

And so the twins of the Velvet Room nodded in agreement and left the vicinity, their preparation for this night beginning. It would be their second night in that world, soon enough, but after such a time with them during the evening, it all seemed like they quickly skipped to the topics about the other world. Madoka did hope they could still discuss not just about their preparations, but their lives as well. They were interesting partners, interesting friends, after all. It wouldn't do either side good if she didn't understand them...

_Flash!_

...What?

_I am thou... thou art I..._

_Thou hast established a new bond..._

_It brings thee closer to the secrets..._

_Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Fortune Arcana..._

Fortune Arcana? With the twins? Well it means that she'll be spending time with them more...

But she really wished to know what these Arcana meant...

"Well, that was an interesting moment," Junko commented, still watching the blue siblings fade away. "You made some strange and fun friends, Madoka. They even took a liking to you that fast."

"We _did _see each other when they said I had a strange future," Madoka partially told, only avoiding the secrets. "And after that, they're trying to help me get something better."

"You have to believe in them," her mother answered, smiling. "They're fortune tellers, right? Just have faith in them that they can help you. I really don't want my lovely daughter catching a curse because of what's going to happen."

Even if she wanted to worry about what might happen, Madoka only giggled on how that sounded.

"No, we really don't."

* * *

It was the end of evening.

As she lay down on her bed in the dark room, her arms behind her head, Madoka sighed as she reviewed today's events. There were still some things left in her mind. The hidden facts about the other world... well, what else did she learn so far? All she knew was that Witches were created the same way Shadows were. That was one connection, but what about the rest?

...

...

She stopped there. Despite how much she wanted to learn, there probably was nothing left to know at that point...

Next thought. Homura as the Social Link of the Priestess Arcana. From what she remembered in Luna's explanation, the Priestess Arcana represented wisdom, mystery, and the like. Did this mean there really was something about Homura? She tried to kill Kyubey yesterday, she didn't go after him this day, saying that it was too late. She even questioned if Madoka would become a Magical Girl or not. She probably held those intentions as a facade of her true motives, but what were they?

Maybe... if Madoka got closer to Akemi Homura... she'd finally explain it all?

Whatever it was, it would take a long time for that to happen.

Madoka got up on her bed to give another sight on the white animal that slept in the shelf next to her stuffed toys. Oddly enough, Kyubey has been asleep ever since she entered her house. Maybe he was just that exhausted after going with the girls in Witch hunting? Who knows?

And speaking of Kyubey, there was the idea of becoming a Magical Girl. One must have a wish to be granted, and then fight Witches to prevent destruction.

...Was that what she really wanted? Not just a wish, but even become a Magical Girl and battle against Witches for the rest of her life? Granted, she could still live normally as a schoolgirl even if she accepted the contract, but...

"_I want you to make contracts with me and become Magical Girls!"_

It was... strange. She felt odd whenever she would think about a contract with Kyubey. There was something nagging at her about it, but was it because she didn't know all about the terms of it?

...

At least she wasn't facing that decision now. She still had some things to take care of before she would finally make a choice.

After all, she was no longer a normal schoolgirl, her fate being twisted in the end because of these new events, as well as her link to them. But she was no Magical Girl either, her contract with Kyubey not being fulfilled, so she had no wish granted, nor was she entirely entitled to fighting the destructive Witches.

She was a Persona-user. A girl who was 'blessed', in a sense, by Philemon to hold the Wild Card, and use her Persona powers to eliminate Shadows and discover the secrets being kept from her. If she wanted anything else, she would want it when she was done searching for answers. But Kaname Madoka already had a role to finish.

And she would start and finish on that first and foremost.

That's why... she went to sleep.

* * *

"Ah..."

She... found herself standing in front of a statue...

Wait... the maiden statue used to bring her back to reality...

Yes. She was in the same hexagon-decorated blue dress from last night, along with azure slippers on her feet. Turning around, she saw the same world during that time last night. Gray sky, blocks unaffected by gravity, silver floor with other mechanisms of this world...

...and a pair of kids in front of her.

"I'm back, everyone," Madoka greeted the two.

"Madoka," Luna quietly greeted, her expression not showing signs of joy, "thank goodness you came in a little sooner than we expected."

"...What's going on?" Madoka whispered in slight fear. Judging from the grim looks the siblings were giving to the Wild Card, it seemed something was going down.

"We were planning to train ourselves as we go in this world," the girl in blue began to explain, "but we have an emergency that needs us three."

"What happened?" The Wild Card asked, definitely not liking where this was going.

Rai started off on their answer. "Do you remember that this world has appeared next to our mental minds?"

"Um, I remember," Madoka nodded. "We can only come here when we're not awake in the real world, right?"

"That's exactly what happened," Luna answered, setting the stones. "The person only needs to be asleep, or at least unconsciousness. But that's just it. One does not have to be a Persona-user to enter this world, as long as that person is related to the events we know of."

"The person can't use a Persona," the pinkette slowly tried to understand the situation, "the person has to be related to..."

...Wait.

"Are... are you saying someone else is here?"

Rai nodded. "That is the case."

"..."

No. It was strange for a person to enter this world just like that, but if that person doesn't have a Persona to be defended from Shadows, then...

"When... when do we leave?"

The two mostly tried to remain unsurprised on what they heard. They were already expecting the next words to be filled with determination and steel hope from the usually soft girl who glared at the two. Again, it was expected, but that was because of her belief that she wanted to save this person.

They didn't expect her to be _this _desperate to rescue someone.

* * *

"How close are we?" Madoka asked the duo as she watched Alpha cleaving through a pair of Magic Hands. The pink-masked Maya behind the dead Hands lunged forward, attempting to strike Madoka in surprise, but the Merciless Maya was soon countered by a Bufu from Saki Mitama, knocking it down in the process.

"I am not too sure," Luna answered as she came from behind Madoka before ordering a second Bufu to finish the Maya off, its cries being heard from taking the freezing Skill. "We did make a good decision on using the transportation device, however the signature of the human is starting to get weaker, but we are getting closer to it."

Rai from behind swung his short sword once at the black Obsessed Cupid, before making a second slash and following it up with a turn of his body to deliver the last strike, downing the Cupid from the blow.

"I can only estimate two or three floors to find that person," he answered in a deep breath while having Inugami cast a lightning bolt Zio on the Shadow. The next ones that came in front of him were the brown-robed Trance Twins and another Merciless Maya.

"We can't be distracted by the Shadows if that person's still in danger," Madoka reminded everyone. "We have to get moving..."

"Let us finish these first," Luna responded before crushing her card.

"Bufu on both!"

The smiling Persona spun once to have an icicle spring forth on the Cupid to knock it down. The same went for the Trance Twins, who also couldn't bear the freezing pain. The next thing the Shadows knew was the three Persona-users rushing in before feeling pain.

And the dust cloud from the All-Out Attack became clear.

"I hope we can make it in time," Madoka whispered, seeing no Shadows on sight in the labyrinth. Once the group nodded and began running to find the next staircase to go lower, however...

"Wha..."

The whole area around Madoka was covered in a soothing blue mist, almost making the hallways in the maze difficult to see. What she saw afterward was a group of four cards in front of her, floating. They somewhat looked like the Persona cards the three used to summon.

The card on the left had a green sprout of sorts, almost looking like a wand, if that was what it looked like. The two cards that levitated in the center looked like broken glass, with a hole in the center. Lastly, the right card was what appeared to be a blue-haired girl in white and blue with a transparent-looking scarf.

"What... are these?" Madoka curiously spoke, slightly startled by the floating pieces of paper.

"Those are..." Luna muttered loudly before softly exclaiming. "Madoka, don't look away from the cards. _Don't_."

"Eh?" She tilted her head while Luna went on.

"This is a Shuffle Time, a moment where you can gain something if you pick the right card," she detailed further. "I will explain most of it later. For now, you should focus on either the Green Wand on the left, or the Persona Apsaras on the right."

"Apsaras?" Madoka parroted before staring at the rightmost card. So that was a Persona? Then... maybe if she gained more Personae...

"The cards will move at random," Rai continued. "Be very careful and make sure you know which card it is."

"Cards moving at random?" The pinkette idly wondered while still staring at the four cards.

"Don't direct your attention away from the card!" Rai quickly warned before there would be some mistake. "It is about to start. Focus on one card only!"

"O... okay!"

Only a few seconds passed, and thus the cards began to move around, switching positions with other cards before picking up speed. Madoka's eyes continued to watch the card she wanted despite its gradual speed. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, the four cards continuously swapped and swapped until they stopped.

"Now. Pick the card you believe is the one you want," Rai instructed.

So... two cards were good, and two were bad, if the broken glass pictures were anything to say. Her index finger waved between two cards that could be the one she desired. It was difficult all thanks to how Shuffle Time worked.

But no... she believed she knew which one was the desired card...

And so... her finger touched the center-left one...

The card that she selected was the Persona... Apsaras.

"Ah... I did it!" The holder of the Wild Card exclaimed in glee. Not before long, the Persona Apsaras was welcomed into the girl's heart, prepared to be ordered by her master. The pinkette then held two Personae, ready to fight by her side.

The blue mist around the girl vanished, restoring sight to the checkered labyrinth.

"I got a second Persona," Madoka whispered to herself in accomplishment.

"A Persona such as Apsaras will not be enough for the rest of the many sub-floors," the male twin reminded. "You will need to know about how to acquire stronger Personae for your benefit."

"Um... I think I know," Madoka responded as she looked back at the duo. "It has something to do with Social Links, right?"

"They are part of Persona Fusion," Luna answered, "so in general they are part of gaining strength."

Not long, the strawberry-haired girl soon seemed puzzled on what Luna said. "Um, you, well..." She tripped a little. "You mentioned Persona Fusion when I was asking... is that what I think it is?"

Luna nodded. "The process of combining two or more Personae for a stronger Personae, yes. That is one of the Velvet Room's services."

"The Velvet Room's services..."

"You... do remember that we have someone to save, correct?" Rai cut in.

And the thought of their rescue attempt was brought back.

* * *

Time came, time passed.

Throughout the next floors, only thoughts of rescuing the human were processed in their minds. They couldn't stand around idly if they had the time to do it later. That much, Madoka knew. This wasn't the first time she saw someone else almost killed. It would actually happen if she didn't make it in time for this round.

Despite their focus on rescuing the person, it was silent overall. Too tense. They stopped talking since some minutes ago, just when Rai mentioned about the human. As they ran through the quiet hallways, she felt that she wanted to talk about _something_, even if she knew that they were running on limited time, but the twins... they were rather uneasy, starting to look edgy. Almost like the way they were when she entered in the new world the second time.

Just what was it that kept them this tense under their mostly composed expression?

"Ah... hah..."

The three's reactions were instant.

"That sounds like..." Madoka muttered, hoping that she heard it well.

"On the left hallway!" Luna quickly pointed.

The Persona-users numbly made their way to the end of the corridor, avoiding any interrupting Shadows in the way. They simply had no time for them, not when they can save the person in front of them much faster that way.

They took their steps forward... and were startled by the sight at the end of the hallway.

A girl. Battered, sore, writhing in pain from the ones the trio usually fought against. Shadows were surrounding the broken girl as she continuously backed herself to a corner, fear inscribed on her in the situation. Tears were already being released from her while she wished in panic that it would not be her final hour.

Her head hanged low, almost prepared to accept her end whilst still waiting for a miracle...

A miracle she believed was nonexistent for the moment...

"Stop... don't come closer..."

And her whimpering was answered...

"Magaru!"

The girl's head rose up when she heard a voice, one that seemed to sound like some kind of a command. Concentrated gusts burst forth against the Shadows, even knocking down one of them at once. Two were unfazed from the striking winds by much, however...

And that was when the girl saw them.

_Them._

She blinked, not wincing from the growing pain anymore, as a sense of relief had washed over her when she saw _them_. The four new people showed up next to the girl, standing between her and those bloodthirsty monsters. Three of them were dressed in blue, but the fourth one...

...The fourth one in black and white was floating.

...And she soon disappeared.

The pained girl couldn't really understand what was going on ever since she got into the strange world. She had only woke up in this place and was suddenly attacked by those creatures... and the next thing that happened, people stood between her and her attackers...

Madoka glanced at the battered girl in concern, wondering if the damage done was too far for the moment, but then gave a soothing smile.

"Don't worry. We're here for you."

The girl weakly nodded in response to her savior.

"One Grave Beetle, two Obsessed Cupids," Luna informed quickly. "And it seems that the Grave Beetle is..."

The Shadow that resembled a beetle, definitely the Grave Beetle, started to recover from the fall earlier. The Obsessed Cupids were already making their stances against the humans.

"You, stay back," Rai gestured to the girl, not bothering to spare another glance at her. The three were already occupied with the enemies in front of them. He soon monitored at Madoka, getting ready as well. "Madoka, if you know what to do..."

"Right!" Madoka took the initiative without needing another lecture of the sort.

A card branded by Alpha with the number zero was crushed by the palm of the pink-haired Wild Card, bringing out the girl in black.

"Alpha! Magaru!"

Alpha lifted her sword up to concentrate the flow of the mental energy shared by her holder. Winds burst forth against the enemies once more, the same wind attack used earlier. Like the previous results, the purple-masked Grave Beetle tripped from the attack, but the Cupids never flinched, even if the strike was somewhat damaging.

"Wind is effective on Grave Beetle," Madoka analyzed for information, "but like last time, the Obsessed Cupids resist Wind..."

"Then resort to Ice Skills," Luna responded, and Madoka only nodded to tell that she understood.

Deep in her formed consciousness, her mind saw two cards that were displayed in her inner sight. One on the top was the girl in black, and the one on the bottom was a girl in blue, the newcomer that the Wild Card met earlier. Reading her Skills, her strengths and weaknesses, and remembering her appearance...

And the two cards swapped places.

"Apsaras!"

Madoka returned to the strange world with a card crushed. Alpha soon left the world and returned to her master's heart, and the next Persona that took her place was the girl in white and blue with a mystical scarf levitating on her.

The new girl watched on in awe as the pink-haired girl named Madoka swapped the strange woman in black to another woman in blue. The people who called upon these entities... who were they?

The pinkette then pointed to the first Obsessed Cupid on her left. "Bufu!" She ordered.

A flicker of magic from Apsaras, and an icicle was brought forth on the Cupid before it was shattered to hundreds of shards. Unlike Magaru's Wind effects, the Bufu Skill's frosty effects knocked it down easily.

"Bufu on the next!"

The Skill was not hindered by anything, and the Cupid wasn't able to escape from the icicle's frigid shards. A knockdown was a guarantee for the winged Shadow.

With all the Shadows down, it led to another hourly All-Out Attack.

_Biff, thwack, boom, slash, biff, slash, thump, thwack...!_

With the dust cloud dispersing to the rest of the area, the four soon only saw the Grave Beetle left standing, leaving the battle unfinished. Regaining its senses, the remaining Shadow marched on to the pinkette, trying to thrust its head forward for an attack.

Too slow for an attack, it seemed. Madoka was able to make a move before it did rush in, sidestepping carefully to dodge. Following up to the successful evasion was a smirking Luna forming a blue card.

"Alp, Garu."

The card was crushed to reveal a woman... barely covered in anything but short black scarves. Her hair was almost stylized like the wings of a bat, and also bore a tail with the tip being a pointed triangle. Borrowing her summoner's mental focus, winds rushed in once more towards the Grave Beetle. Instead of the Beetle still surviving the brunt of the attack with full strength, the cutting gusts prompted it to banish, striking away its little life left.

It was over.

And they made it...

"...Luna."

Cutting through the silent victory of the group was the holder of Alpha, who looked pretty out of it after watching something from the battle.

"Um... that Persona, Alp," Madoka stumbled, "what... I mean, who...?"

"Ah, Alp is a succubus of German and Swedish lore," Luna explained as the pink-haired girl stared blankly. "Unlike most succubi, these demons are known to cause terror in people sleeping, and maybe even leave an illness on-"

"Why was she barely covering anything?" Alpha's holder blasted out in embarrassment. She saw that Alp only had black cloth on certain spots, being a very daring woman in her own right.

"That's just how she was?" Luna tried to innocently shrug off.

"You're forgetting an injured girl here."

Rai resisted the sound of even a muffle when he saw the impact on the two's faces before they got to the girl in question. Well, actually...

"Eh... don't look!"

The three Persona-users were mildly halted in their tracks when the poor girl's voice broke through. For a few seconds, confusion sprouted among them for the reason of the shout until it became very clear on what she was actually trying to say.

After all, Madoka experienced this moment firsthand when she first arrived.

"Here," Rai grumbled as he looked away, pulling out a dress with a very familiar color. The girl responded by slowly taking the velvet apparel.

With all of her spots given cover, they were able to see the girl once more without the sense of awkwardness. The girl bore brown long hair and black eyes, and had a height not too larger than the trio, looking quite common among many other people. The difference on her appearance now was the gifted dress the standing girl was wearing, which had the all-too-familiar color blue. It was a long basic dress that had no sleeves, and on the waist area of the dress was an imprint of different notes on the group of lines, the staff as the group was called. The imprints were all in clear white.

"How do you feel?" Madoka first asked.

"I... I feel sore," the new girl answered while wincing and wobbling. "Those monsters that showed up... thanks to them, it's hurting everywhere..."

"The dress we made has healing properties," Luna spoke up, "but it only does little at a time. Perhaps a healing Skill should do it."

"Madoka," Rai called to the pink-haired girl who looked back in return, "you should have Asparas use Dia on the girl."

"So Dia is a Skill that heals?" The holder of the Wild Card wondered for a confirmation.

"It's not a full heal," he replied, "but it should be enough to help her move around more."

"Ah... alright."

With a card that appeared from the pink-haired girl's thoughts crushed the next second, the Persona Apsaras took form and gathered a small breath of life for the brunette. The new girl looked a little nervous for a moment when the Persona came about, only to feel more relaxed when radiant light when the brunette felt such a breeze in her.

Apsaras soon disappeared from sight.

"That... felt nice..." The new girl muttered, being a little more up and about.

"With that out of the way," Rai announced, "we should leave before a larger group of Shadows appear."

"Ah, yeah," Madoka responded softly, knowing just the kind of trouble they were when they appeared. She turned to the brunette, who was still shaken from the recent show. "You can walk around now, can you?" Madoka then asked.

"It still hurts a little when I move," she admitted, "but I guess I can walk now..."

"That's a relief," the pink-haired girl said. "I thought Dia wouldn't do much good..."

"There was no need to worry about it," Rai assured. "Now, let's hurry on. We can't attract the attention we don't need for now."

And so they began to go deeper in the maze, in search of a device they needed to escape...

* * *

"I'm Ayame... Shirogane Ayame," the new girl introduced.

The group returned to the entrance, the flat piece of land that floated above the horizon. As always, it was an eerie, colorless world they'd wake up to first. With their chances to introduce themselves in a proper fashion taken, the Persona-users voiced their names first before the brunette.

"Shirogane Ayame," Luna repeated her name, beginning the synopsis, "since a day ago, Madoka began to search for answers in this world that recently appeared next to our dreams. By reaching out, us three managed to visit this world with our consciousnesses, and Rai and I assisted Madoka's search."

"Um, but what does this have to do with me?" Ayame wondered. She didn't seem content if it had to revolve around her.

"N-nothing at all," Madoka stumbled, waving her hands. "We just wanted to save you, really."

"Oh, that's it?" The brunette simply replied, still clueless.

"Actually," Rai shot her thoughts, "we were wondering about that. How did you cross over to this world? I thought only under special circumstances could one come here, but there seems to be more to this world than we thought."

That was true, Madoka thought. Wasn't this world only connected to the events? Those of the Magical Girls and Witches?

"Ah, right." Ayame bent forth as she placed her fingers on her mouth. The girl dived into thoughts and ideas on the question Rai published. After a while, she stood back up and shrugged in disappointment. "Eh, sorry," she then said. "I don't really know how I got to this world. And without my clothes."

"You know you didn't have to add that last part," the boy sighed.

"You don't know how you got here?" Madoka continued the main topic. "Or... even before when you woke up?"

"I was... in my room last time," Ayame tried to recall, grimacing as she did. "I... cried a lot before I went to sleep. I don't really want to talk about what happened, since it was pretty depressing. So I cried and cried and... slept."

"So you came to this world because you were depressed?" The pink-haired girl tried to theorize. It didn't really sound like the right answer on how she came over, though.

"Wait," the brunette then said, her expression being of one trying to pick up something. "I think felt pain. Lots of it."

"Pain?" Luna repeated, curious of how pain was introduced.

"Uh, lots," Ayame sneezed. "My head was splitting open at first, but then it became my whole body. I actually felt like I was dying too. And, uh..." She paused for a moment on trying to make words. "...Well, a very long time passed, then I felt more pain. I think I heard gunshots when I did..."

Madoka took a step back from the one word that sounded frightening. "G-gunshots...!?"

"A lot of them, too," the new girl continued. "I think the new pain was from a lot of bullets coming in me..." She then shivered from the mere thought. "Was that how it felt like to get shot by a bunch of people and still live? I really don't wanna experience something like that again. I'll probably have nightmares about guns for the next days to come..."

"You seem to be so calm about all this when you say that you felt bullets," Rai snorted.

"It's one of my selves, actually." Ayame's beaming was definitely a complete contrast to the tone of her tale. "Anyways... tons of bullets, and I think a big bang or something... did I feel an explosion too? Geez..." She heartily chuckled for a moment.

"And you lived through all that..." Luna spoke in amazement.

"U-um, what happened after all that?" Madoka shakily inquired as she tried to put up a smile. This girl was... scary. Very scary. Ayame would probably even dare to make fun of death if she ever encountered it...

"Huh? Well, nothing, really," Ayame muttered. "Woke up the next instant, and then I was running away from those creatures..."

She took another pause, returning to her thinking pose. Ayame then looked around as if she was observing the land. And then...

"...Hey, come to think of it," she started, "are we... in a Witch's barrier?"

Madoka flinched after hearing something that sounded very important. Did she really said 'a Witch's barrier'? She... knew about Witches?

"...Are you... a Magical Girl?"

"Yeah, I am," Ayame answered with a nod. "And you three are supposed to be Magical Girls too? No, wait, the boy probably wouldn't look good in a dress..."

"Of course not," Rai huffed in annoyance, prompting the girls to giggle for a moment.

"We're Persona-users," Luna clarified to the new girl. "And this world isn't a Witch's barrier as you know. Or at least, we think it isn't..."

"So this place isn't part of a Witch," the brunette tried to catch on. "But... then what's going on?"

Rai sighed.

"You're sleeping in the real world, your consciousness is placed in this world, this world has connections to the recent events, Shadows appear here, we defeat them with our Personae, Madoka is looking for answers, and said answers are at the bottom of this pit," Rai... quickly explained.

"Will that suffice?" Luna finished for him, smiling.

"Whoa, uh... okay, yeah," a zoned-out Ayame managed to get out. "So... in this world, you fight with demons to attack demons, and you wanna get to the bottom of the world to figure out what's going on..."

"Yes," Rai confirmed, nodding.

"Hm..." The brunette pondered again. "You know, I think I wouldn't mind helping you. If I had my Soul Gem, though..."

"Oh, that's right," Madoka noticed, "you're a Magical Girl, but you need the Soul Gem to gain powers, and you don't... have it here..."

"This place could have at least afforded clothes for me at the beginning," Ayame mumbled for a moment. "But yeah. If I'm sleeping in the real world, I guess it really doesn't mean my stuff comes here... so no Soul Gem."

She then shrugged before coming to a short pause.

"Hm... what about what was it called? Being a Persona-user? What if I become one?"

Ayame wanted to be a Persona-user? Her?

"If you have the potential to draw out your inner feelings and thoughts, you can do so," Luna explained. "At this point, however, I don't think-"

"So basically," the brunette suddenly interrupted, "what I have to do to use a Personal thing is..."

She shot her hand forth, her palm open as if it expected an object.

"...imagine a card and crush it, right?"

...

...

"For a moment, you resembled Rai when it came to learning even the basics," Luna sighed, leaving her brother to twitch for a second on the comparison. Ayame frowned a little on realizing how she acted, while Madoka giggled all the same.

"The past is the past," he muffled, almost sounding like a growl before returning to the discussion. "At... any rate... while that is the basis for summoning a Persona, and mind you, it is _not _'Personal thing', you probably have not awakened your potential to call upon its powers as of yet."

"Oh," Ayame disappointingly spoke. "I guess I'm that unlucky then."

"I said 'as of yet'," Rai gestured. "You have managed to connect to a world where Shadows reside, so it should not be impossible for you to summon a Persona. However..."

"To call out your Persona in its dormant state," Luna explained, "you need a strong desire to gain power. Accompanying that would be the belief of hope, and your memories of your friends. To finish it completely, you must shun away all of your doubts and fear in the face of death, and remember who you are deep down."

Power... hope... friends... and that last part. Madoka wondered, how did she accomplish that? Was it because of that time... when the Witch's familiars attacked her and Sayaka? To deny her death and wish to continue living? That's what it sounded like...

"Doesn't look like I'll get it easily, then," Ayame muttered, still down.

"It was never intended to," Rai shrugged.

The brunette breathed out as the sign of giving up for some superpower that she wanted. "Alright, alright. If I can't get it now, then..."

...

"...how do I leave?"

It was almost as if a chilling, solid, icicle impaled on the back of the Persona-users' unmoving heads from hearing such a thing. Bufu, maybe?

"Don't look at me like that!" Ayame defended, noticing the blank stares from the three. "If I can't summon a Personal whatever, I don't have to be here, right? Or... am I actually supposed to?"

"Again, it's 'Persona'," Rai corrected, displeased.

"Now that I think about it," Luna pondered differently, "why would you be here in the first place? You have the potential to summon one, we can tell so, but it doesn't seem like you're closer to unlocking it. You even had a near-death experience just now in this world to awaken it, and yet..."

"Maybe... maybe she needs to be awake?"

The mumbling of Madoka brought everyone's attention to her.

"Um," she tried to continue, "I did summon my Persona when I was attacked by a Witch. Does this mean... you need to be awake and be in danger?"

"That still does not make sense," Luna countered. "Personae are part of people's psyche. Your psyche is part of your mind, and so your mind and consciousness is in this world. Why, then, would the rules not apply here?"

"...Let's not think too much about this," Rai then answered. "Maybe we can figure out sometime soon."

"Can't be helped then," the newcomer shrugged. To everyone, it was indeed unfortunate that Ayame wasn't able to summon a Persona to combat the Shadows. Not everything was easy in every way.

It was decided that she shouldn't really be here if she couldn't help much, so they showed her to the maiden statue in the main floor. Her powers weren't born, and so there was nothing for her to do. With the simple instructions given to the brunette, her mind flowed to any form of exit in this place. Like waking up into reality as Madoka explained.

Shortly before she decided to vanish into a white, serene light...

"So, are we seeing each other again?" Ayame asked, turning away from the statue to face the three once more.

"That, we don't know" Rai spoke, content of the unclear circumstances and laws. "We usually show up in this world, but not from the same locations, so we cannot see each other if we're awake. But if you still have ties to this world in some way, then yes. I don't believe that's what changes."

"Huh, so I guess you probably live pretty far," the brunette theorized.

"Um, yeah, 'far' is the best way to describe where they live," Madoka heartily and shyly joked, soon shortly rewarded by a pair of glares. Not that she was wrong on where exactly they resided. Maybe. "And for me, I live in Mitakihara."

Ayame paused her breath for a moment as she looked at the pink-haired Wild Card. "So you're actually not that far?"

"Eh?"

"You know, just outside downtown, my city's pretty close by. I think a friend of mine knows where your school is too." She _hoped_.

"W-wait," Madoka wanted to slow down. "Are you trying to say you want to see me?"

"What else would it be?" Ayame snickered with a shrug. "But I gotta know where to see you, you know. I don't know where you'll head to, so I'll probably wind up wandering around without a clue. So, where should we meet up?"

"Um... well, there's a mall near the school area. It shouldn't be hard to find."

"Oh, that's pretty easy to find. I think a certain pink-haired girl that summons demons will be familiar to see, too."

"_Persona_," Rai grunted in clear annoyance.

"They're demons anyways." Ayame waved off teasingly before finally turning to the statue, the atmosphere finally setting for her departure. "So..."

"I'll... I'll see you soon, Ayame-san," Madoka spoke, bitter about the farewell, but more than eager to see her again.

"Ah, yeah, Madoka, right?" Ayame blurted without giving a glance, gaining her attention. "I know that all three of you saved me, but for you... I just want to say...

Thank you."

To save someone without feeling helpless... to be thanked by someone because of your own strength...

"D-don't mention it..."

The form of Ayame became a brilliant light that nearly pierced through the eyes of Madoka and the siblings. When the density was finally low, no longer was the brunette around in the strange world anymore.

...

"Will she be alright?" Madoka finally asked, curious and worried about how Ayame's prelude would affect the girl, given the kind of harm it did to her.

"We don't really know if she will wake up proper," Rai admitted with a shrug, "but her soul was still able to be sent away by the statue despite her insane tale. I'm sure she will be awake soon."

"She was even calm in her story, so I think all should go well," Luna then reassured, believing in the outcome. "It would not hurt to hope for her well-being."

"Haha, yeah... it won't," Madoka softly laughed. They had to be right. If Ayame's consciousness was able to return just like how Madoka did, then there hopefully was no problem to happen. The brunette was even cheery when she discussed about herself, even if it was gruesome and depressing...

Yes. A part in Madoka told her that everything was fine.

And so the group had brushed away from Shirogane Ayame to go into important matters of the world. Answers were still far from her, even though the Shadows and Witches could be somewhat related, so it was still a good choice to go deeper into the labyrinth with the leftover time they had. To her powers, the siblings brought up the topic about Persona Fusion, something that Madoka was hearing a lot recently. It involved what the namesake said: fusing Personae to create stronger Personae.

Even when she was brought up to the Velvet Room, she still couldn't understand the system with its many complications on board. The twins decided afterward to rectify this and give her a better explanation when they had time.

Before they left to go exploring again, Margaret gave a present to the pink-haired Wild Card.

It was a Persona card. It would normally be just another Persona, but what she said was quite different.

"It appears to resonate with you," Margaret told, her tone quite robotic yet human. "Whether or not you know of it, it can be with you in harmony. Please, make use of it."

And so... Orpheus was welcomed into her heart.

* * *

It was a losing battle...

Luna continued to hold her weakened consciousness on the field, still standing and part of the battle despite her left arm being partially numb. Rai, however, sat far from the bout, trying hard to stay awake as he used healing Skills onto himself before another strike would get him down.

But these problems were just part of a larger grave situation.

Madoka stood, battered like Luna, but she still stood. One advantage the enemies had was the numbers between both Madoka and the two, separating them in the checkered corridor, and what's worse, more Shadows started to show up behind the pinkette. It was clear that the battle was out of hand. There just was no way to win a losing bout where numbers became strength.

It was over...

...and yet, Madoka found it too soon to be over.

Two cards appeared in front of her when she decided to select her Persona for a moment. The one she held was Apsaras, but the other...

Orpheus

She felt it.

They were in harmony.

Their powers were based on their melody.

And... their melody was soothing...

Madoka snapped out of it when she learned of their powers together. She brought up both of her arms to bring down two cards. The blue flames were unsealed upon breaking the cards, and the girl found one thing to say that could finally turn the tides.

"...Cadenza."

* * *

In the silent world that was the Velvet Room, Margaret held a reflecting disc as she stood on one end of the room's devices behind the seat Igor took. After she fiddled around with the temporary technology for a moment, the disc she held slid into once of the components with an opening small enough for the flat piece of technology that gave music.

The room was then resounding with a catchy beat for its recently-found purpose.

She figured the song would ensure promise that the trio could wipe all enemies out with mass destruction as Madoka discovered her next hidden innate power.

* * *

Luna and Rai watched on as the vibrant melody created by the two Personae of Madoka encased around the three Persona-users. They just... couldn't believe it from what they saw.

"A Fusion Skill...?" Luna muttered in awe with shocked eyes.

The soothing composition from the two Personae allowed Madoka to stand without much hindrance. In fact, she felt her body feel much lighter compared to her pale body that weighed heavily with pain.

And it was all that she needed to win the battle.

Shadows lunged forth, countless Shadows of negative human emotion that would bring despair and destroy the minds of any wandering human. But Madoka's body wouldn't allow a single hit on her as her fleeting ability from the Cadenza Skill had her dodge a majority of the punishing attacks easily. One strike and Madoka evaded. One sweep and Madoka avoided. One thrust and Madoka danced. It continued and continued until she decided to end the matter.

"Alpha! Go! Cleave them all!"

The sound of a card shattered, and the two Personae were replaced by the initial Persona of Madoka. The holder of the Wild Card smiled at how easily this came to be in her favor.

Alpha then raised hell as the Shadows tried to make their unreachable victory, with the dark monsters slaughtered one by one with the sword. As minutes passed, even with some of the creatures remaining, the bodies were all downed, giving enough time for the three to regroup and deal the final blow.

One last dust cloud was formed.

* * *

**Finish!**

**All of a sudden I felt sadistic and pumped on writing the last scenes. Too bad it was a tad short.**

**Oh yeah, it's not just Ayame and other people gaining their own Personae. The main cast will get one, but I've yet to plan it.**

**Apologies for errors and whatever. Same old.**

**Anyways, the appearances of Personae and Shadows. Ones that are already mentioned are in Reprise.**

* * *

**Appearances**

Orpheus (P3, derp)

Apsaras (P4)

Alp (FES)

Merciless Maya (P3)

Magic Hands (P3)

Grave Beetle (P3)

Obsessed Cupids (P3)

Trance Twins (P3... I gotta stop going into P3 for most of these guys...)

* * *

**Now then...**

**FLYYYYYY~**


End file.
